The Greatest Time Of The Year
by velja
Summary: Formerly known as Christmas something. Challenge fic. Chad and Ryan spend the Winter Break at the same resort. Will their relationship finally be discovered? And what else will happen with their families and an ex around? CHYAN fluff. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

I was in the mood for a fluffy Christmas fic and this is what came to my mind.

This story is a stand-alone written originally for the December Challenge #9 at idontdance. But it can also be seen as some sort of future sequel to my story "Scarred".

I hope you enjoy.

* * *

**The Greatest Time Of The Year**

Chapter One

It was the second to last day before the Winter Break and you could feel the Holiday spirit all around East High School. Tacky Christmas garlands decorated the halls, bright-colored banners screamed "Happy Holidays" in every direction and tons of mistletoes adorned every other doorframe so that you had to be careful where you stood unless you wanted to be kissed on the cheek by silly giggling girls without a warning.

Chad Danforth usually didn't mind all the fuss everyone made about Christmas; he rather liked it. In fact he was one of the very few boys who could also be seen lurking in a doorframe, ready to surprise whoever happened to stop by with a quick smack of lips followed by a cheeky grin.

It had been part of his well-camouflaged plan to plant furtive kisses on his secret boyfriend's cheek just to be paid back for the public embarrassment later.

Which was what Chad had been hoping for all along.

Whenever the coast was clear Ryan would hastily drag him into an empty classroom for a not-so-impromptu make-out session that Chad really enjoyed and looked forward to every day.

But not today.

Today Chad managed to enter the classroom exactly in time with the bell announcing the beginning of the lesson. Without so much as a glance at anyone he slumped into his chair, a gloomy expression twisting his handsome features.

"Hey, what's up man?"

His best friend Troy Bolton had turned around in his seat and looked at Chad questioningly.

But the dark-haired boy just shook his head and whispered:

"Later!"

Ryan watched the exchange from his seat a few feet away and frowned. Something was obviously troubling his boyfriend but what?

Last night, during their standard "good-night-call", everything had still been okay. Chad had been his usual good-natured sexy self; flirting and promising a proper make-out session for next day's lunch break.

Through the entire Math class Ryan kept watching Chad for clues as to what was troubling him but although the jock sought out his eyes more than once and managed a sly smile every now and then Ryan just knew that something was definitely not right.

He had to wait till the first break though to get the chance to talk to Chad. And he wasn't the only one.

As soon as the bell rang Troy turned around in his seat again and just when Ryan had made his way over he heard the last bit of Troy's question:

"… like your puppy just died. So, what's up?"

Chad threw a miserable glance at his best friend and then his eyes met Ryan's who'd come to stand next to him.

"Oh, damn! It's just… my mom is ruining all my plans for the Winter Break, that's all!"

"Why, what did she do?" Troy asked.

"She wants us all to spend Christmas with her new boyfriend!"

Chad pronounced the last word like some acid poisoning his throat and Ryan had to smile at that; the word reminding him of how happy he was to be able to call Chad that, though only secretly because Chad still hadn't come out officially. Just a few of his closest friends knew of his relationship with Ryan, like Troy and Gabriella, Taylor, Kelsi and Sharpay – though the last one wasn't exactly what Chad would call a friend, she just happened to be Ryan's twin and so of course she knew about them.

Ryan zoned in on his boyfriend's complains again.

"I mean, I'm really happy for her that she's finally dating again and Tom's a great guy… I like him I guess but…" Chad threw a helpless look around, "… why the hell does he have to make us spend Christmas in Pallanah?"

"Where?" Troy asked frowning.

"Pallanah," Chad replied gloomily, "some small fucking nest I-don't-know-where!"

"It's a holiday resort near Colorado Springs," Ryan surprised the two boys with his prompt answer.

"Huh?" Two stunned faces looked up to the smiling Drama King, question marks in their eyes. "How do you know?"

Ryan had trouble suppressing the wide grin that threatened to split his face. This was just too good to be true.

"I know because my family happens to spend every Winter Break there skiing. Actually we're gonna be off to Pallanah on Friday."

"What?" Chad shouted surprised and jumped from his seat. He stared at Ryan and stuttered:

"You're… you're gonna spend… Winter Break… skiing?"

"Yeah," Ryan shrugged.

"And you're telling me this NOW? Two days before? I mean… I made plans for us and you…" Chad stopped in his tirade and glared at his boyfriend, oblivious to the scene he was making. Several other students were already staring at him and Troy looked as if he wished to be elsewhere right now.

"I'm sorry, Chad," Ryan said quickly, equally single-focused on Chad and not caring about who'd overhear them. Chad had made plans for them? How sweet! But now he was mad at him for not telling him about his skiing trip. Damn! Ryan quickly went on:

"I guess I kind of forgot about it. It's just so… usual, you know? I've spent every Holiday skiing with my family and it's nothing special anymore. I just didn't think…"

Chad interrupted forcefully: "Right! You didn't think! Why should you waste a single thought on spending time with me?"

"Guys," Troy shouted and stood up to end the secret lovers' argument with outstretched arms between them. "First of all: calm down, you're making a scene!"

He watched Chad and Ryan finally remember that they were not alone and continued with a grin:

"And second: you realize that you're acting completely stupid, don't you?"

"Stupid?" Chad growled, "Troy, how can you say that? You know that… I mean," he lowered his voice and whispered, "how would you feel if Gabby told you oh-so-casually that she'd spend the entire Holidays elsewhere without you?"

"But Chad," Ryan tried to interrupt but the agitated jock went on:

"No Ry, that's how it is!"

"No, it's not!" Troy threw in. God, Chad could be so dense sometimes! "Chad, you're gonna spend your Winter Break in… Pall… whatever! And Ryan, too! So both of you will be there! With your families! Does that ring a bell somewhere under those thick locks of yours?"

Troy watched amused how the gears in Chad's head started to turn and his friend's face changed from furious to stunned first and then…

… then the other shoe dropped.

"Oh!" Chad mumbled embarrassed and threw a sheepish look at Ryan. Just like Troy the blond boy had been waiting patiently for the penny to finally drop.

"Exactly," he smirked with arms crossed over his chest; the very picture of self-confidence and good-natured superiority.

"So you're gonna be there, too. That's… great," Chad managed to say while he fought in vain to blush.

"You think?" Troy and Ryan asked in chorus, grinning simultaneously.

Troy clapped his best friend on the shoulder before he turned and headed for the door.

"Come on you two, lets go! You can make plans for oh-so-serendipitly meeting in the snow later!"

Ryan chuckled and followed Troy out into the halls. Chad trailed after them slowly; his head suddenly filled with thoughts of him and Ryan, tumbling down a snowy hill, surrounded by frosty snowflakes and cozily wrapped in each others arms.

Maybe his mom's Holiday plans weren't so bad after all?

* * *

Three days later, on Saturday morning, Chad helped his mother stuff all their bags and suitcases into the back of her boyfriend's SUV, whistling happy Christmas tunes and trying to hide the grin that seemed to spring forth whenever he thought about the upcoming Holiday trip.

In more or less six hours Chad would be in the same place where his boyfriend was spending the Holidays, too.

What a lucky coincidence it was!

Alyssa Danforth watched her eldest son smiling happily (again!) and couldn't stop but wonder what had brought on the sudden change. When she'd first announced that Tom had invited the whole family to spend Christmas at his cabin in Pallanah, Chad had looked as if the world would end. He'd been angry and devastated but he hadn't wanted to say why.

And now? He was whistling Christmas tunes, for crying out loud!

Something was definitely going on here, something she was determined to find out.

If she didn't know better she would say it had something to do with a girl. But when she'd confronted Chad with her suspicions this morning at breakfast he'd instantly denied anything. And she believed him, she simply knew when he was lying. She was his mother after all, and mothers knew stuff like this!

Chad hadn't been lying but… he was definitely hiding something!

Well, she would watch him closely for the two weeks of vacation and perhaps, at the end of it, she would know better.

And boy, was she right about that!

* * *

Nearly five hours later Chad wasn't happily whistling anymore. Instead he was staring stoically out of the car window and tried not to listen to his two little brothers' constant yammering.

"Mommy, aren't we there yet?" the six-year-old Linus asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time and Chad let out a deep sigh.

"No honey, not yet!" Mrs. Danforth replied with a patience only a mother could summon up.

Chad blocked out the whining voices and lifted his eyes to the blazing white clouds flying over the blue sky. He thought with badly suppressed envy how great it must be to make the trip to Pallanah by plane like Ryan had.

The Evans' had left Albuquerque immediately after school yesterday… and when Chad thought immediately he meant it quite literally.

When Chad had descended the front steps of East High with Ryan walking by his side he'd suddenly stopped short and gaped wide-eyed at the parking lot in front of them.

A CHOPPER!

A bright red chopper with the Evans' company sign had been waiting for the twins, ready to take them to the Evans' private airport where all the Evans' private jets were waiting. All, as in more that one!

Chad had been staring from the chopper to his boyfriend and back and Ryan had chuckled and had closed Chad's fish-imitating mouth with a gentle caress of his hand. And then Ryan had looked around quickly and, positive that every student's eye was on the chopper and not on them, had kissed Chad briefly on the lips.

"See you in the snow tomorrow," he'd said for goodbye and then he'd made his way over to the chopper.

Chad had replied nothing but had kept on staring, mesmerized by the gorgeous image Ryan had presented. The blonde had climbed into the back of the chopper with a grace only a dancer could possess. A dancer who'd done this a thousand times before.

Well, being an Evans Ryan probably had.

Chad came back from his daydreams reluctantly and looked at his watch. He was about to ask his mom how far away Pallanah still was when he realized that it would make him no better than his annoying brothers. So he kept his mouth shut and tried to imagine all the wonderful things he and Ryan would do in the next two weeks.

* * *

Ryan looked around his posh private suite desperate to find something to do. But he'd already unpacked and all his clothes were stashed away in the big walk-in closet. The thirteen, no… fourteen different hats he'd brought along for the vacation were placed neatly on the shelves solemnly made for this purpose.

There was nothing more for him to do.

Well, of course Ryan still had the opportunity to go out and have a look around the club like Sharpay was currently doing. She'd wanted him to tag along like every other year but this time Ryan had refused and after a brief tantrum Sharpay had simply shrugged and left.

Ryan didn't want to tag along and besides… he knew the club inside and out; he'd come here for the Winter Break since he'd been eight!

The Evans' family was a well-known authority at the "Season's Sports Resort" and though Ryan's parents didn't own it (like Lava Springs), most times it didn't feel different than being at their Country Club at home. Well, apart from the snow of course. This was home, too.

Ryan sighed, plopped down onto his king-sized bed and threw another look at the clock.

Was it still too early to call Chad? Maybe the Danforth's (Ryan didn't know the last name of Chad's mom's boyfriend and by the way, the majority of them was called Danforth, right?), okay, maybe they had arrived already?

Ryan picked up his cell and looked at the display. No message from Chad.

Damn, he missed him!

Which was, of course, ridiculous because it hadn't even been a whole day since he'd said goodbye to his boyfriend. Ryan had to smile when he remembered Chad's stunned look at the sight of the helicopter on school grounds.

To him the sight had been nothing new… well, okay, not that he'd be picked up by a helicopter everyday. Just… a couple of times. But Chad had looked stunned to say the least. Exactly like that time last summer at the Country Club, when his dad had arrived at the golf course brought by a chopper as well.

Like a child in a candy shop.

Damn, thinking of Chad's cute expression made him miss his boyfriend even more and so Ryan finally gave in and dialed Chad's cell.

* * *

The buzzing sound of his cell pulled Chad from his musings and he quickly took it out of his pocket.

"Hello?" he asked with a glance at his mom who had turned around from her position diagonal in front of him.

"Hey, it's me!" Ryan's voice was like music in Chad's ears after the constant whining of his brothers.

"Hey you!"

"Aren't you there yet?"

Chad had to stifle a laugh. Now Ryan sounded exactly like his brothers.

"No," he replied, "not yet!"

"Damn, I miss you! And I'm bored. But more missing-you than bored!"

Chad smiled affectionately and could feel a blush coming on. No matter how often Ryan said those cute little things, he hadn't gotten used to this yet. And hopefully never would.

"I…" Chad quickly gulped down the 'miss you more' he'd been about to say but with another glance at his mom settled for: "Me too."

Ryan chuckled and said: "Let me guess, your mom is listening to everything you say."

"Well, what do you think?"

"Okay, so… I'll make this quick. No hot sex talk on the phone this time."

Chad couldn't think of any reply that wouldn't give him away completely, so he waited silently for Ryan to go on:

"But… you'll have to make it up to me once you've finally gotten your cute ass up here."

God, could Ryan sound any more sexy? Chad felt his jeans tighten just listening to that velvet voice. He gulped and forced out:

"Be sure that I will!"

"Good to know, I will think of something to occupy my time till you're finally here," Ryan said suggestively and Chad could hear him moving on something soft and then there was some clothes-rustling heard over the phone.

Oh God, was Ryan doing what Chad thought he was doing?

"What…" he choked out, "what are you doing?"

"Oh," Ryan smirked lazily, "getting a head-start!"

"Don't you dare!" Chad growled silently and caught his mom staring at him in the mirror. Oh damn, now he was in for something. She wouldn't let this go till he'd told her who it had been on the phone. So he could as well say it, right?

"Ryan, I…"

"Okay, okay! Call me when you're here!"

"I will, bye!"

"Bye, sweetie!" Ryan couldn't stop the endearment from coming out.

Chad grinned and then hung up. He put the phone back into his pocket and…

"Who was that, honey?" His mom asked friendly curious.

"A friend, Ryan." Chad replied promptly. Ryan was his friend after all, wasn't he? Just not some friend but… a special one. But still a friend!

"Ryan? Ryan Evans?" his mom asked further.

"Yeah."

"I didn't know you were suddenly friends with… that kind of people."

What was that supposed to mean? Did his mother know that Ryan was gay and was it bothering her?

Chad had to ask: "What kind of people do you mean?"

"Oh, you know…" Alyssa Danforth actually blushed, something Chad had never seen in his life. With a sideways glance at her boyfriend Tom she continued:

"People like… the Evans'. Rich people. Albuquerque's finest so to speak." she clarified.

Chad let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Oh, that! Ryan actually isn't like that. He's… okay," he answered and actually managed not to blush at the understatement. Feeling suddenly daring he added:

"Well, he gets picked up from school by a chopper but other than that…"

"What?" his mom shouted incredulously.

All four passengers of the car gaped at Chad when he simply shrugged good-natured and Tom finally commented smiling:

"Some friends you got there, Chad!"

"Yeah, I know!" Chad grinned back and thought about what he would do to Ryan as payback for making him have this conversation.

* * *

"I can't believe you lied to me, Tom!" Alyssa scolded furiously.

"Oh come on, Ally!" Tom pulled his girlfriend close and continued: "You never would have come if I'd told you we weren't going to my cabin but to the high-class holiday resort I happen to own."

"Damn right you are, I wouldn't!"

Chad looked up at his mom from where he was sitting on the plush couch of what had to be the most spacious suite he'd ever seen.

This living room had to be at least twice as big as theirs at home and there was marble and gold-stitched edges everywhere.

And Tom owned this? All of this actually?

On some level Chad could understand why his mom was so upset right now. She'd thought they would spend the Holidays in a cozy cabin somewhere and not… here!

When Tom had pulled the SUV up to the high-classed "Season's Sports Resort" it had dawned on Chad and his mom equally quickly that something wasn't the way it should be. After a small pause Tom had come out with the fact that, yes, he was actually THE Thomas Mayweather who owned several hotels and holiday resorts all over the country.

Tom had told Chad's mom that he was in business; in the hotel business actually… but not… this!

So Chad could somehow relate to his mom's anger.

He'd been through something similar no three months ago. His and Ryan's first real date.

Ryan had wanted to surprise him with dinner in some fancy high-classed restaurant and… well, high-classed was not something Chad had any experience in.

There had been seven forks and knifes for him alone on the table!

Chad had already felt completely put off by the surroundings and he'd held Ryan responsible for his embarrassment over not knowing which fork to take first.

His only help in preventing a complete disaster had been the fuzzy memories of a movie line he'd once heard: "Take it from outside to inside and everything will work out fine!" or something like that he'd remembered the guy from "Pretty Woman" say.

Chad had taken the advise but it had still been an embarrassing evening throughout.

And now Chad's mom must feel like this somehow, like she was completely in over her head. His family had never been poor but… well, their meals never had seven different courses (let alone seven forks) and they didn't cruise around the country in private jets like Ryan was used to.

So on some level Chad could easily relate to his mom's feelings. But on the other hand… come on, was all this really that bad? Chad knew that his mom secretly longed to for once not look at each and every penny twice! Who wouldn't?

And this suite… I mean, look at all this! Would it be a shame for her to admit that this was what she'd dreamed of all her life?

He said so to her as well and his mom looked from her son to her boyfriend and back and then…

"Okay, okay!" she smiled finally, "I admit it, this is… wow!"

Chad grinned and Tom dared to pull his girlfriend back into his arms again.

"But you still should have told me sooner! I mean…" she broke off and pulled at her sweaty blouse, "I don't have anything to wear for this kind of place!"

"You can buy everything you'll need, honey!" Tom promised and pulled her face up for a gentle kiss.

Chad groaned and stood up from the couch quickly.

"I'll just…" he smirked and motioned to the door that led into the halls, "… you know, go. Leave you two to… whatever!"

Tom simply nodded not breaking the kiss but his mom turned her head away slightly and said:

"You do that, honey. And take Miles and Linus along, yeah?"

"What?" Chad gasped. Shit, he'd wanted to meet Ryan but with his brothers tagging along…

"You could have a look around the club! You know, a long and thoroughly look around, hm?"

Chad let out another groan but nevertheless went to a different door that led to the boy's room and called out:

"Hey there, monsters! You wanna go explore the club?"

"Thank you!" his mother mouthed silently before she was pulled into another kiss.

Chad forced a smile onto his face. He really was happy for his mom to have found such a wonderful boyfriend but…

… hadn't he one as well?

What about his own wonderful boyfriend who was doing God-knows-what right now waiting for him to call.

Ryan wouldn't be thrilled when Chad had to bring his little brothers along, would he?

No, Chad didn't think so.

So it would be better if he'd give Ryan a fair warning before barging into his room with two kids, right?

Chad pulled out his cell and quickly hit the one on speed dial.

"Yeah?" came the sleepy voice of his boyfriend after five times ringing.

"Hey there, sleepy-head!" Chad smiled and gently pulled his youngest brother Linus on his arm towards the elevator. The nine-year-old Miles tagged along silently.

"Chad!" Ryan answered, awake at once, "you finally made it?"

"Yeah, we did. Listen, dude… we might have a small problem!" Chad started cautiously.

Ryan knew instantly that Chad wasn't alone; he never called him "dude" when he was free to speak his mind. Nevertheless Ryan couldn't help but tease:

"A SMALL problem? Don't be too humble, Chad. It's not THAT small. And does the size really…"

"Ry," Chad sighed exasperated.

"Okay, sorry. What is it?" Ryan stopped the innuendo at once, now slightly worried.

"They are in fact two small problems named Miles and Linus!"

"Oh, your brothers?" Ryan asked while he could hear a distant "Hey, I'm not a problem!"

"I've to bring them along for now, mom asked me to show them around the club!" Chad grumbled.

"The club?"

"Oh yeah, you don't know yet: the good news are we're actually at the same club for the whole time!"

"Really?" Ryan asked astonished. "How, I mean… I thought you said something about a cabin? And how can you afford… ugh…" Ryan broke off, unsure how to address the money-issue. He'd never been comfortable to talk about money others didn't have. He had no problems with being rich himself, it was just… Ryan had never had a boyfriend who wasn't and that's why he didn't know how to address the subject without hurting Chad's feelings. Or his pride rather.

But Chad didn't have any issues whatsoever, he simply chuckled and said:

"I know what you mean, Ry. Mom would never be able to pay for all this but… well, it's all Tom's, so…"

"It's his, what do you mean?" Ryan wanted to know though he had a distant feeling that he knew already.

"Turns out Tom owns this place, among others!" Chad laughed embarrassed.

Ryan gasped loudly. "Your mom is dating Tom Mayweather?"

"Yeah, you know him?" Chad asked while he managed to shove his brothers into the elevator before the doors closed again.

"A little," Ryan stated. It wouldn't do to tell Chad ALL about how well acquainted he was with Thomas Mayweather, would it? Or, well, with the man's son would be even more accurate. No, Chad definitely didn't need to know that!

"Ryan, are you still there?" Chad suddenly asked when the line had been silent for a few seconds.

"Yes, ugh…" Ryan tried to get a grip on himself, "where are you now?"

"In the main lobby, I guess. Man, this place is huge!" Chad gasped when he made his way out into an entrance hall as big as the school cafeteria (but ten times more posh of course).

"Okay," Ryan said determined, "stay there, I'll meet you in a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay," Chad nodded, "oh, and Ryan?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for… you know, with my brothers and all… I'm sorry that we won't have some alone-time." Chad had made sure to whisper the last part so that his brothers wouldn't hear.

"Hey, it's okay Chad. I really wanna meet your brothers. And by the way, not everything has to be about sex, right?" Ryan answered back, already on his way to his closet.

"No? And this coming from Mr. It's-Not-A-Proper-Date-If-You-Don't-Put-Out!" Chad laughed.

"Hey, it wasn't me who came all over my hand after only five seconds!" Ryan piped up.

"No," Chad smirked not the least bit embarrassed about that, "it took you what, … eight seconds after all? And ten at the second time?"

"Ha, ha!" Ryan grinned and added evilly: "Well, at least I actually managed a second time, unlike others who simply started snoring in the backseat!"

"Shut up and come over here, okay?" Chad laughed.

"Right, already on my way! See you!" Ryan said and a second later the line went dead.

Chad pocketed his cell and looked around for his brothers.

"Hey, we're gonna meet a friend of mine, okay?"

* * *

TBC

**I had to stop for now but the second part will be up in a few days. Look out for it and in the meantime tell me what you think, okay?**


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry it took me so long to update. I don't have an excuse, just me being lazy and otherwise occupied.

This turned out much different than I first intended. It's still romantic fluff mixed with hot sex but… well, seeing as it took eight pages to even get the boys arriving at the Holiday Resort I suppose the entire vacation will make it to more than thirty pages. In fact I've decided to break this story into smaller parts than I first planned. I thought a two-part-story would be all I could come up with but… apparently not!

* * *

**Chapter Two  
**

When Ryan entered the lobby fifteen minutes after speaking to Chad on the phone (he'd had to choose a fitting hat first) he was suddenly afraid that he wouldn't find Chad and his brothers among the crowded place. There seemed to be dozens of people around; families checking in or out or simply strolling through the entrance hall on their way outside.

But Ryan shouldn't have worried because he had soon enough made out Chad's eye-catching hair among the crowd. And next to him Ryan found two more such mops of dark curls, though one was noticeably shorter than Chad's. But the hair on the smallest boy's head (Linus, wasn't it?) looked exactly like Chad's and when Ryan walked up to the three of them he saw that the little boy was actually the spitting image of the eldest Danforth's boys.

Ryan instantly labeled the boy the 'Mini-Chad' in his head.

"Ryan!" Chad grinned and for a second it seemed as if he was about to pull the blonde into a hug and kiss him. But then he only patted his arm awkwardly and sent his boyfriend an apologetic smile.

Ryan sighed inwardly; he'd longed for a proper greeting but he could also relate to Chad's reluctance for showing public displays of affection.

No matter how much Ryan wished it to be otherwise, Chad obviously wasn't yet comfortable enough with his own sexuality to present it to the whole world. Least of all to his little brothers.

"Hey Chad," Ryan replied finally and then addressed the two boys: "Hi, I'm Ryan."

"Hi," the elder one mumbled indifferently.

The Mini-Chad stared at Ryan with open curiosity and finally giggled:

"You look funny!"

"Linus!" Chad reproached embarrassed but Ryan simply tilted his head with a smile and crouched down to the boy's level.

"Really? Why?" he asked gently.

"Your hat," Linus answered with another set of cute giggles, "it's sparkling!"

"Yeah, it is." Ryan nodded. He'd thought long about which hat would match his white pants and blue dress-shirt best and the sparkling night-blue fedora with the white band simply had mirrored his mood perfectly.

"Why?" Linus wanted to know, "Why does it sparkle?"

Ryan's face briefly showed deep concentration, eyebrows drawn together and head tilted even further aside, before he answered:

"That's because it's made out of snowflakes."

"No, it's not!"

"Yes, it is!" Ryan insisted and pulled the hat from his head to turn it around. "See this?"

And, sure enough, the velvety inside he showed to the curious boy now was covered with millions of tiny glittering snowflakes.

"Wow," Linus gasped, "how did they get in there?"

Ryan laughed and stood up slowly. He grinned at Chad and then explained:

"Someone used this hat to catch as many snowflakes as possible and then some of them melted and seeped through. And now the outside sparkles!"

Chad had to stifle a laugh at that and Miles looked as if he didn't believe a word from Ryan. But Linus' face changed into one of pure awe and he grinned:

"Cool! Can I have it?"

"Ugh…" Ryan stuttered with a sideways look at Chad but after another look at the adorable Mini-Chad he shrugged, "okay. For now!"

"Thanks!" Linus beamed and held his breath while Ryan put the precious fedora onto the small head. The mop of curls actually prevented the hat from sliding over the boys' eyes and ears and held it in place when Linus started bouncing up and down in joy.

Chad whispered an affectionate "You've made yourself his best friend with that!" into Ryan's ear and grasped his hand briefly. Then he looked down at his brothers and asked:

"So, are we gonna explore this posh place or what?"

"Yeah," the two cried in unison and Ryan, who'd stroked through his flattened hair to make it look more presentable without a hat, suggested:

"How about I show you around and present you the where's what of this place then?"

He offered a hand to Linus and the small boy took it without hesitation and started walking next to his newest best friend. Chad took Miles by the shoulder and followed, smiling warmly.

The smile on Ryan's face turned smug when he thought: 'Phase one, being accepted by the family, accomplished with brilliancy.'

And then he led the boys out of the lobby.

* * *

The little group had cruised around the most important places of the "Season's Sports Resort" (the different dining rooms, the spa, the theatre and of course the countless gym rooms) and Ryan had explained what purpose each room had and which activity was held where.

Chad had been most happy with the indoor-basketball court while his brothers had liked the separated 'Kids Club' best.

Several rooms were reserved for the countless activities of the Resort's own kids program where numerous employees tried each day to occupy the kids and grant their parents some alone-time whenever they wanted (or needed) it.

Ryan and the three Danforth's had been led to the small theater room they were currently standing in front of by following a big throng of children. Christmas songs sung by some child's choir could be heard from the inside and Linus was nearly pulling Ryan's arm out; he wanted to go inside and see the announced child's play.

"Okay you two," Chad told his brothers, crouching down to look them in the eyes, "we're gonna pick you up here, and I mean exactly here, this spot and not over there or there or elsewhere," he motioned with outstretched arms in each direction. "Five o'clock; right after the play ends, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Miles confirmed impatiently, "can we go already?"

"Alright, go and…" Chad stood up and gave him a brotherly shove, "have fun!"

Without another look back the two marched inside, Ryan's fedora still bouncing up and down on Linus' head.

The blond boy was still looking longingly after his hat when he felt Chad take his sleeve and start pulling him away.

"Come on already!" Chad urged.

"Where are we going?" Ryan asked and stumbled along.

Chad threw a suggestive grin over his shoulder and whispered:

"I don't care as long as it's somewhere private. I don't need an audience for this."

Ryan noticed that special gleam in Chad's eyes, the one he got whenever he thought about sex, and grinned right back. Then he looked around the halls they were in and took the lead directing Chad to a small door nearly unnoticeable in the cream-colored walls.

He pulled his boyfriend inside and as soon as the door was closed and locked securely behind the couple Ryan felt Chad shove him against some shelves full of theater props.

The dark-haired boy pushed his whole body flush against the blonde, crushed his lips to Ryan's waiting ones and started devouring the eager mouth.

Two pairs of hands started tearing clothes apart frantically and soon (but not soon enough for both of them) Ryan's shirt was unbuttoned and flew away to land on the ground in a heap. All through it the two boys' lips never parted but eventually they had to come up for air.

"Ngh, oh… god, Chad, I…" Ryan panted and tore at Chad's shirt, desperate to get it out of the way for some skin-on-skin contact.

Chad was meanwhile busy opening Ryan's fly and the sound of the zipper being pulled down roughly rang loudly through the air. It was followed by the blonde's harsh intake of breath when he felt a warm hand wrap itself firmly around his hard cock.

Ryan's hips jerked forward uncontrollably and he pushed into the firm grip, groaning into Chad's ear:

"Oh fuck, yes!"

Chad let out a low chuckle that quickly turned into a moan when Ryan started sucking on his earlobe. The blonde's talented mouth soon traveled lower down the sensitive skin on Chad's neck, softly biting the chocolate-colored flesh on the jock's collarbone.

Chad increased the jerking movements of his right hand and let his thumb spread the precum over the straining hot cockhead. He could feel Ryan's pale hands bore into his back when Ryan tried desperately to hang on to his boyfriend's ministrations without exploding. He was so close already and he hadn't even gotten Chad out of his shirt yet!

Ryan wanted to prolong this but… oh GOD… Chad's calloused hand was working his cock like playing a musical instrument. He couldn't stop pushing into the tight fist.

Ryan could feel Chad's own arousal dig into his hipbone every time his slender hips rocked forward. He tore his mouth away from Chad's shoulder and gasped:

"Chad, I… ngh, oh fuck… I, I'm gonna…"

"Let go, Ry!" the dark-haired boy urged and tugged at the throbbing cock in his hand, "Come for me, I wanna feel your come on me, all hot and…"

"Oohh gahh…" Ryan forced out and felt the wave of his release wash over him more powerful than ever before. His knees threatened to give out and he clung desperately to Chad's shoulders, riding out his orgasm to the very end.

Chad held the trembling body upright, ignoring his own pressing hard-on and pulling his head backwards a little for the sake of watching the utter bliss wash over Ryan's flushed face. Finally the blond boy had calmed down enough to focus his eyes on his boyfriend.

"Oh wow," he panted with a dopey grin, "what a way to start the Holidays! Thanks!"

"Don't thank me," Chad replied smugly, "I totally plan on having the service reciprocated as soon as you're up to it."

"With pleasure," Ryan smirked and quickly reversed their positions, turning around to push Chad against the shelves in one swift motion. He moved in to plant a soft kiss on the luscious lips and then whispered seductively:

"Anything in particular that I can help you with?"

"Stop babbling," Chad's breath hitched in his throat at hearing Ryan's velvety sex-voice. "As much as I love hearing your sexy voice, you can use that talented mouth of yours in far better ways than talking."

Ryan's face spread into an evil grin right before he got down on his knees in front of Chad and pulled down the jeans to do just that.

* * *

An hour or so later Ryan hurried inside his suite, desperate to take a much-needed shower before he'd have to join his family for dinner. He threw his night-blue fedora onto the nearest chair, smiling inwardly when he remembered the Mini-Chad's face earlier.

When he and Chad had met up with Chad's brothers after emerging from the storage room (more or less disheveled) Linus had been more than reluctant to finally return the hat to its rightful owner.

The crushed look on the six-year-old's face had been enough to make Ryan's heart melt instantly. He'd quickly promised to give Linus one of his other hats as a permanent loan tomorrow and the tiny boy's face had lightened up again quickly.

Now Ryan just had to think about which hat to give away; the loss of which one would be most bearable to him?

Well, shower first. He'd have plenty of time to think about it later when dining with Sharpay and his parents in the 'Blue Room'.

Dinner rooms at the Resort were told apart from each other by their different-colored interior and the Evans' had occupied the blue-colored one every year since coming here. Chad hadn't known yet where he and his family would be seated; so the boys had parted earlier deciding to meet again after dinner at Ryan's suite (as long as Chad's mom would let him go but the jock had been positive that it would be no problem).

Lost in thoughts about what he and Chad could do later Ryan shred his clothing and stepped into the comfortable shower. He let the warm water wash away the scent and the traces of their previous activities (hadn't that been a perfect 'Welcome'?) and quickly lathered and conditioned his hair.

The sound of the shower tuned out the door to the bathroom being opened and so Ryan nearly got a heart attack when he finally emerged from the shower stall to come face to face with his sister.

"Oh god, Sharpay!" he shouted surprised and quickly grabbed the nearest towel to cover himself up. "Are you trying to kill me? Get out!"

"Geeze Ryan," the blond girl replied indifferently, "don't be such a baby! It's nothing I haven't seen before!" And with a stern look at the hickey on his throat she added: "And nothing I particularly wish to see!"

Sharpay turned on her high-heeled boots and marched out of the bathroom again, throwing casually over her shoulder:

"And in case you don't want mother and daddy to see it either you should do with a turtleneck tonight. Now come on and hurry up or we're gonna be late for dinner!"

Ryan watched her go and then looked at his neck in the mirror. He had to wipe the fogged glass first but then he noticed the small dark spot on the left side of his neck.

Damn, how had Chad managed to give him a hickey there? Hadn't he been mostly concentrating on some other part of Ryan's anatomy?

Ryan shrugged and decided that tonight he would once more do as Sharpay had told; a turtleneck it would be.

* * *

Dinner in the 'Blue Room' started out quite uneventful for Ryan and his family. They'd been greeted by George, their personal waiter, who led them to a nice round four-person table in the center of the room.

Throughout the dinner Ryan kept an eye on his surroundings, hoping to catch sight of his boyfriend somewhere. But it wasn't until dessert was served (chocolate ice-cream that reminded him of Chad) that Ryan was able to throw a glimpse at Chad.

Well, first he noticed something small and curly-haired dash through the room towards him and the next second Linus stood by his side smiling widely.

"Hi Ryan!" the tiny boy beamed.

"Ugh, hi!" Ryan stuttered and looked around for more Danforth's to come. But there was none in sight for now; the cute boy must have dashed away unnoticed by his family.

"And who would this little darling be, Ducky?" Ryan heard his mother ask gently.

He turned around to look at her, an answer on his lips, but Linus beat him to it:

"I'm Linus Danforth and I'm his bestest friend!" the tiny boy explained promptly with a serious nod.

"Really, his bestest friend?" His mother's voice held no trace of laughter in it, just curious gentleness. "Well, then… nice to meet you, Linus Danforth."

"Danforth?" Sharpay repeated annoyed and rolled her eyes at Ryan, "Oh joy!"

Ryan was about to reply but again Linus was quicker than him.

"Ryan," the small boy addressed him with a slight trace of anxiousness in his cute voice, "are you really gonna give me a hat tomorrow?"

Big brown eyes looked hopefully up at Ryan's nervous face. He was aware of his whole family staring at him but managed to sound quite normal when he confirmed:

"Sure, Linus. I promised, didn't I?"

"You promised him one of your hats?" Ryan's mother asked above the joyful 'Jippie!' coming from the boy, not trusting her ears. Her ducky NEVER gave away his precious hats! He must truly like the child. That or he'd lost his mind recently.

Unless… maybe he'd lost his heart?

She looked at her son closely, waiting for his reply but before he could say anything a new voice suddenly shouted through the room:

"Linus, there you are!"

Everyone at the table watched as Chad approached quickly and crouched down next to his little brother.

"You know you shouldn't run off like that! Mom is freaking!"

The dark-skinned boy stood up again and placed a hand on Linus' small shoulder. He looked up and seemed to notice everyone's gaze on him for the first time.

"Ugh, hi! Sorry for that, did he bother you?"

"No, no." Ryan quickly said and with a look at his parents added: "Ugh, mom, dad… you remember Chad? He worked at Lava Springs last summer."

"Oh, right, darling." Mrs. Evans threw an assessing smile at the young man. "You caddied for us once, didn't you?"

"Yes," Chad replied and, suddenly remembering his manners, quickly offered a hand to Ryan's mom. "Nice to see you again, ma'am." He turned to Mr. Evans and nodded politely.

"Sir."

"Chad and his family are staying here for the holidays, too." Ryan felt the need to explain his boyfriend's presence although nobody actually knew they were boyfriends in the first place (well, apart from Sharpay of course).

"Oh, how wonderful to have a friend around, Ducky!" Ryan's mom exclaimed. "Then you won't be all alone the whole time!"

Sharpay bristled at that and cleared her throat loudly. "Hey, what about me!"

"Oh princess, I'm sure your mother didn't forget about you." Mr. Evans spoke for the first time and padded his daughter's cheek affectionately. "But of course you understand that… twins or no twins, the two of you can't hang around each other all the time." His eyes traveled to his son and he put a hand on his shoulder, shaking it friendly.

"After all, Ryan is becoming a man now and… it will be really good for him to have a friend around to do manly stuff with. Right, son?"

Ryan had trouble fighting off a blush. If only his dad knew what 'manly' stuff he and Chad did!

He suppressed a grin and answered:

"Sure, dad!"

Sharpay simply rolled her eyes. Great! Not only were her parents totally oblivious to what was going on between those two… no, they were actually encouraging Ryan to spend time with his boyfriend and forget all about her!

What a wonderful Holiday this turned out to be!

It's not that Sharpay was begrudging Ryan his relationship with Chad, mind you. She was truly okay with it and the jock actually wasn't all that bad (most times). But it wouldn't do for Ryan to completely ignore her now and spend all his time with his boyfriend.

And seriously… why were they so keen on keeping their relationship a secret from everybody? It's not that the entire world didn't already know Ryan was gay (or, well… at least assumed it). And Chad? Sharpay wasn't going to concern herself with his reasons for hiding who he was. Being gay was nothing to be ashamed of, was it?

And after all, Chad was dating an Evans! Certainly nothing shameful in that, quite the contrary!

Damn those stupid closeted cases!

Sharpay was still grumbling inwardly when the stupid Chad shoved off with his stupid cute brother in tow; waving goodbye politely and throwing an oh-so-casually wink at Ryan.

Her parents completely missed the flirting as well as the whispered "Meet you upstairs later!" but Sharpay heard it. And then she spend the rest of dinner-time thinking about ways to ensure that eventually her parents would catch a ride on the clue-bus by the end of their vacation.

* * *

Some time after dinner, when the Evans' had retreated to their suite for a quiet evening, Sharpay marched over to bang forcefully on Ryan's door.

"Ry, I need to talk to you!"

Oh oh, that didn't sound good, did it? Ryan opened the door to reveal his sister standing in the doorway, impatiently tapping her manicured nails on the doorframe. She strode in deliberately ignoring Chad who was seated on Ryan's bed (all very innocently and fully clothed – thank god) and Ryan tried to assess Sharpay's mood quickly while in his head he was going over all the things that could have offended her.

But she didn't look threatening at all, just impatient and kind of determined.

Ryan sighed and walked over to her.

"What is it?" he asked innocently.

"I've been thinking…" Sharpay stated.

"Oh, really!" Chad mumbled from his position on the bed but Sharpay went on as if he hadn't said anything.

"…About the Christmas Party and what performance we should be doing this year."

She looked at her brother expectantly and Ryan instantly felt guilty. It was because he'd been focusing all his thoughts on enjoying the holidays with his boyfriend that he hadn't wasted any thought on the Resort's annual Christmas party and the show that went along with it.

Every year the Evans' twins had participated in the show with one of their great performances and every year the crowd had loved it (naturally).

"And?" Ryan asked cautiously.

With a quick sidelong glance at Chad Sharpay answered: "And I think that this year we're not gonna sing together."

"What?" Ryan exclaimed with a shocked frown disturbing his features. "But why? Why don't you want to sing with me anymore?"

Sharpay had to take just one brief look at her twin to know that he was really crushed. No matter how much his self-esteem had grown over the past year, when it came down to her and their bond Ryan could still be reduced to his former insecure poodle-self within a blink of an eye.

Sharpay quickly put on a reassuring smile, a genuine one for a change, and hurried to clarify:

"It's not that I don't WANT to sing with you, Ryan."

"No?" the blond boy sounded confused.

"Of course not, doofus! I just thought that maybe this year you might want to have another stage partner." Sharpay's smile widened and she winked in the direction of the bed.

"Huh?" Ryan was still confused. Why would he want to perform with anyone other than Sharpay?

"Oh no, princess. I don't think so!" Chad suddenly chimed in and quickly jumped up from the bed to join the twins. "You're better not be thinking what I think you're thinking because…"

Sharpay had to suppress a shudder at hearing her brother's boyfriend use the same nickname her dad always used. That was a road she'd better not travel. So she simply rolled her eyes at the jock and looked back at Ryan.

"I've decided that you two are going to perform something together," she announced in a voice that clearly held a ring of finality. "And while you're at it you could finally go public!"

Chad gaped open-mouthed at her and Ryan…

Ryan's face slowly turned into a shy grin at the thought of going on stage with his boyfriend. But then…

"Wait, what do you mean… go public?" he frowned.

Sharpay said: "You've been together for months now and everything's going fine. Apart from the fact that you're not totally happy."

"Of course I'm happy!" Ryan tried to convince his sister, "Really, I am!"

"Ry, come on!" the blonde replied. "You know you can't hide anything from me. I'm your twin and I feel that you're not happy with keeping your relationship secret. Of course you're not, I mean… who would?"

She threw a glare in Chad's direction but the jock was too occupied with watching Ryan's face to notice.

And Chad knew suddenly that Sharpay was right, Ryan's face showed it clearly. There was a secret longing hidden in those blue eyes that confirmed his worst fears. He was holding Ryan back. His own fear about coming out, that stupid insecurity about his sexual orientation was making Ryan unhappy!

HE was making Ryan unhappy!

Chad gulped when he suddenly noticed Ryan's eyes meeting his.

"It's not up to me, Shar." Ryan said and slowly faced his sister again. "As long as Chad's not comfortable with letting the whole world know about us we're keeping it secret. Nothing I can do about that."

"Yes, there is." Chad suddenly heard himself say. He walked closer to his boyfriend and linked both his hands with Ryan's paler ones. Dark eyes met wide-opened baby-blues when Chad whispered:

"Lend me some of your courage and strength and we'll get through this together. And by the end of the year you don't have to be unhappy anymore."

"Chad, I'm not…"

"Yes, you are, Ry." Chad fell in softly, " I can see it and… I don't like being the reason for it. And… man, I can't believe I'm saying this but… Sharpay's actually right!" He threw a brief smile at the retreating girl and went on: "We've been together for three months now and I guess it's time to show it to the rest of the world."

"You sure about this?" Ryan asked seriously.

"Yeah."

Ryan watched Chad's face closely and couldn't stop the smile forming on his face when he leaned in and captured the soft lips with his own. Chad deepened the kiss and threw his arms around Ryan's back and neck to pull him closer.

None of the boys noticed Sharpay quietly closing the door behind her. It wasn't until they had to come up for air that Ryan looked around the empty suite and chuckled:

"Wow, my sister being tactful for once, that's definitely a first!"

"Then we'll better not waste this rare opportunity," Chad answered and pulled Ryan over to the large bed.

The boys tumbled down together and after a playful struggle Chad ended up on top of Ryan, devouring his mouth hungrily.

Ryan pushed his hands under Chad's shirt and made quick work of pulling it over the mop of curls. This time he really wanted to enjoy Chad's body; watch the muscles play as well as feel them, before Chad would make him loose control over his manual abilities.

He was throwing the shirt carelessly aside when the door suddenly burst open and Sharpay stuck her head inside again.

"Ugh, boys," she smiled sweetly, "you might want to lock the door if you're gonna continue that. Otherwise next time it will be mother barging in here unannounced."

She wiggled her fingers overdramatically at them and retreated her head with a playful "Tootles!"

Chad's stare went from the closing door to Ryan beneath him and then he rolled away from the blonde to jump up from the bed. He rushed to the door and locked it securely.

"You know, sometimes your sister seems almost nice!" he joked and dashed back to the bed to pounce on Ryan.

* * *

The next few days passed with as much peace and joy as both boys could ever have dreamed of. They spent nearly every minute together (well, apart from the nights of course); being nearly inseparable after they shared breakfasts with their families individually.

Their morning-activities went from childishly building snowmen with Miles and Linus over shopping for Christmas gifts and enjoying lunch together to spending time in one of the countless indoor-gyms (much to Ryan's discomfort but… oh well, the things you put up with for love!).

The afternoons were saved for skiing (or snowboarding in Chad's case) until the approaching darkness drove them inside again; their bodies freezing cold but joyful warmth radiating from their eyes.

Before dinner Ryan and Chad usually vanished somewhere unobserved to work on "defrosting their icy bodies". And… well, if some body parts got quite a bit more attention than others while rubbing each other warm… well, whoever had invented 'rubbing your HANDS together to get warm' clearly hadn't known Ryan's kink.

The blonde boy totally got off on feeling Chad's icy hands on his cock. Actually, hands or mouth, it didn't matter to Ryan as long as it was something freezing Chad would wrap around his stiff arousal.

The first time Chad had noticed Ryan's fascination with cold he wouldn't trust his eyes.

He'd believed before that any normal person would back away from having freezing fingers cover certain body parts and that those body parts would naturally shrink away from the cold (the pun very much intended here).

But not Ryan's parts, oh no!

The blonde's cock had actually hardened further, so much that it had to be almost painful, and then Ryan had let out a vigorous groan and he'd come instantly. He'd shot his load in an endless stream over Chad's hand and had actually passed out for a second afterwards.

The sight alone had made Chad come without being touched more than fleetingly and he'd filed away that experience under 'Ryan's special kink'.

Who would have thought that the sometimes shy Drama Geek, who could pull off a look so completely innocent that he looked more like a kid than Linus, in reality had such hidden depth; such a kink!

Well, Chad sure as hell hadn't known but now he was extremely glad he did. Because every day now he'd had the pleasure to witness and participate in what seemed to be Ryan's best performance so far (and him being the Drama King that meant something!).

Oh, and speaking of performances… Sharpay hadn't stopped pestering the boys with her annoying idea of them performing a song together at the Christmas Party.

Every evening she'd tried to talk them into it. She'd joined them at Ryan's suite when the boys had wanted to spend some quiet alone time in front of the big mantle, constantly waving papers in their faces.

She'd chosen songs she thought perfect for the couple's performance, had copied the notes and texts for Chad (Ryan wouldn't need any copies, he knew every Christmas song that had ever existed by heart) and had even volunteered to rehearse with them!

If Ryan didn't know better he'd say that someone had kidnapped his sister and had left a bad clone behind instead (or a good one, depending on your point of view).

But Ryan did know better. He knew that Sharpay could indeed be nice and helpful and even dedicated if she'd truly set her mind on something.

But the question was: WHY was she so damn stubborn and wanted to have them come out to the world?

Ryan was determined to find out Sharpay's motives. Because… she had to have some ulterior motive in all this; he just couldn't picture his twin do anything so selflessly out of the goodness of her heart.

Selflessness wasn't even in Sharpay's vocabulary, was it?

* * *

**TBC**

Okay, I spontaneously decided to post this part tonight and I hope you like it. Personally I most love the part where the Evans are having dinner. I simply had to make Sharpay act like Ryan did in HSM2. He was so cutely annoyed when Troy joined their family dinner and kind of stole Ryan's place in the family. I love that part.

Tell me what you think, okay? Especially whether or not you liked the sex part, I'm not so sure it turned out the way I wanted.


	3. Chapter 3

**Ugh, ahem… hi there, you still remember me? That's right, I'm the terribly lazy author who started writing a Christmas fic and then abandoned it for like two months.**

**Guys, I'm so sorry. I really hope there are still some people out there waiting for this to go on. And go on it will. The massive writing-crisis seems to be over at last and so I've decided that I'm gonna finish this, no matter that Christmas has long passed. I'm sure you all possess enough imagination to pretend it's still Christmas time, am I right?**

**Okay, here goes the next part. It's probably the second to last.**

**Truly heartfelt thanks to all those who reviewed and put this on alert. I can't tell you how much it's appreciated (and needed to make me get my lazy ass up and writing). Thank you so much.**

* * *

**Christmas something**

**Part Three**

As hard as Ryan tried to find out why his sister suddenly "cared" so much for his happiness and why she was so desperate to have him and Chad go public by performing a song together at the Christmas party, Sharpay wouldn't let her guard down.

Whenever she'd come waving notes in his and Chad's face trying to talk them into singing together (which the basketball star had stubbornly turned down every time) Ryan had started pestering his sister for spilling her reasons. Without luck; Sharpay was, had always been and would always be the more headstrong twin and Ryan wouldn't get anything out of her.

And then, one day before Christmas Eve, Sharpay suddenly changed her mind.

"Ryan," she declared over breakfast, "I think we should rehearse our performance at least once before the party."

Ryan nearly choked on his orange juice.

"What?" he asked incredulously and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Our performance? Since when…"

"Oh come on, Ry! If your basketball freak is too chicken to sing with you then… pfft!" Sharpay shrugged indifferently. "There hasn't been an Evans-free Christmas party since… ever, so we have to uphold the family tradition, right?"

"Ugh, sure, whatever," the blond boy muttered surprised.

"Good," Sharpay nodded satisfied, "we're gonna meet tomorrow morning for rehearsal then. Ten o'clock sharp."

She stood up swiftly and in walking away threw over her shoulder:

"And don't be late!"

Ryan watched his twin leave with a frown on his face before he suddenly remembered something.

"Hey Shar," he shouted after her, "what are we going to sing?"

"Don't worry Ry," came the swift reply, "I found the perfect song. I'll tell you later. Now hurry up, we're leaving in half an hour! "

She sent a brilliant smile along and then vanished through the glass door into the entrance hall.

"Okay," Ryan mumbled and stood up, too. He quickly stole another croissant from the basket before he made his way over to his' and Chad's secret hide-out at the end of the hall. Half an hour was enough time to get a bit of making-out done after all, wasn't it?

* * *

Chad and Ryan both had decided that today they'd need some time apart in order to get their Christmas shopping done. Because you couldn't buy a gift for your boyfriend with the other constantly lurking about, could you? 

Ryan and Sharpay usually went to the noble boutiques Pallanah had to offer and therefore Chad had planned to take his younger brothers to the tourists shopping center. That way the chances of accidentally running into each other (and spoiling the Christmas surprises) would be practically nonexistent.

After breakfast (and after their too short make-out session) Ryan had left with his sister while Chad had gone back to his room to enjoy some rather rare alone-time. The shopping trip with his brothers was planned for the afternoon, because, really… how long would it take to buy a single Christmas gift?

Chad was lying on his bed sifting leisurely through a sports magazine when there was a sudden knock on his door.

"Yeah?" he asked and turned into a sitting position.

"Hey there, you got a sec?" Tom asked when he stuck his head cautiously through the door.

"Sure, come in."

The older man entered and after some silent nervous fidgeting he leaned his back against the huge window and asked:

"So Chad, you're… ugh… friends with Ryan Evans, right?"

Chad threw a surprised look back and answered hesitantly:

"Yeah, why?"

"Good friends?" Tom inquired further.

"Yes," Chad said and was about to ask where this questions would lead to when Tom spoke again:

"Just friends?"

'What the fuck…?' Chad thought panicked and jumped from the bed. Did Tom know something? Had he maybe seen them together? Ryan and he had always been stealthy when stealing away to one of their 'defrosting sessions', hadn't they?

The panic must have shown on Chad's face because the next second Tom hastily clarified:

"It's okay, Chad! It's really none of my business but… you see, I know that Ryan is gay and so I… well, I just thought…"

"Wait, how do you know Ryan is gay? I didn't know you knew him that well!" Chad frowned and started pacing back and forth.

Now suddenly Tom was the one to look slightly panicked. Several seconds went by before he came up with an answer:

"His father and I have done business together several times and besides… the Evans's have come here for the Holidays ever since… ugh, I don't know exactly… several years at least."

His face had changed into a small dreamy smile as if he was remembering the Evans family through the years. Chad watched his mom's boyfriend silently; not knowing what to say.

After what seemed to Chad like several minutes Tom came out of his thoughts and threw a close look at the dark boy. Then he offered Chad a reassuring smile and, walking to the door, said:

"Chad, you know me enough by now to recognize that I'm okay with people being gay. And I wouldn't think any less of you if you'd tell me that you and Ryan… you know." Tom had reached the door by now and opened it. "But… if that were the case then you should think about telling your mom. You know that she doesn't like secrets. And I'm sure she'd support you and she wouldn't love you any less if you were gay. After all, she likes Alex, too. Right?"

And before the dumbfounded Chad had the chance to say something in return Tom had stepped out of the suite and into the halls.

Chad stared at the slowly closing door, the confused "Who's Alex?" heard only by himself.

* * *

Chad was still trying to figure out what the small chat with Tom had been about when his growling stomach suddenly signaled lunch-time. 

"Shit!" he cursed and jumped from the bed. "I still haven't thought of a gift for Ryan!"

Well, of course he'd bought the obligatory hat (a ridiculously cute red fedora with tiny white hearts all over it and with the band designed the same but in reversed colors – white with tiny red hearts). But giving Ryan a hat as a present was about as lame as it would be for Chad to get a slogan T-shirt. It was kind of clichéd: Ryan collected hats just like Chad collected T-shirts with sayings on them.

Any idiot could have thought of it and thus it wouldn't be a very personal gift.

And Chad wanted a personal gift for Ryan; something really special that showed his boyfriend how much he truly cared for him.

Well, easier said than done; that much was clear for Chad as he now made his way over to his mom's suite to meet the rest of his family for lunch. He'd only half a day left to come up with the perfect gift for his perfect boyfriend.

Oh boy!

* * *

The afternoon sun was already disappearing behind snow-covered mountains by the time Chad and his little brothers returned from their (thankfully successful) shopping trip. Leaving the boys to get ready for the Christmas Eve dinner Chad rushed into his room and placed the shopping bag onto his bed with great care. 

It wouldn't do to damage the precious gift now, would it? Not after all the trouble he'd gone through to find it.

Chad pulled the gift slowly out of its bag and eyed the sparkling wrapping fondly. It was simply perfect. He'd found the perfect gift for Ryan!

Well, actually it had been Linus who'd stumbled upon it this afternoon. And Chad had been so happy about it that he'd actually forgotten to scold the little brother-monster for running off unnoticed.

Chad had frantically searched half an hour for his wayward brother before he'd found Linus in a small shop full of the oddest things you could think of.

Ready to launch into a full-fledged lecture he'd started to pull the mini-devil out of the shop when he'd suddenly noticed the small and sparkling object Linus had held clutched to his chest with both hands.

One look at the delicate glass sphere with the miniature baseball figurines inside had driven all the fury from Chad's mind and his face had changed into a huge grin when he'd taken the thing to the counter to pay for it.

Now the glass ball was securely seated in a wooden box and wrapped tightly and Chad just couldn't wait to see Ryan's face when he unwrapped it.

With one last fond pat he put the gift back on the bed and stood up to grab a quick shower and dress for dinner.

Thinking about what would await him later Chad suddenly felt a nervous fluttering settle in his stomach. Today would be the first time his family would share a table with the Evans's for the evening.

This morning Tom had finally managed to catch up with his long-time business acquaintance Vance Evans and both men had decided that something like "both families get together for dinner" was long overdue.

When Chad had heard about it at lunch he'd been thrilled at first. Dinner with Ryan!

But then he'd started wondering if this was maybe some sort of devious plan of Tom's. Maybe he was planning to force Chad into revealing to his mom that he was gay and in a relationship with Ryan.

And as much as Chad truly wanted to come out to his mom (he'd thought about how to do it best the entire afternoon)… he didn't think that announcing it over dinner with both families around would be the right way to do it.

The problem was, Chad hadn't been able to come up with a plan on how to act during dinner yet. And he also hadn't had a chance to talk to Ryan about it. His boyfriend's cell phone had been disconnected the whole afternoon (no doubt one of Ryan's schemes to prevent Chad from pestering him about his Christmas present).

So now he didn't have any idea on how Ryan thought about all this and how to act.

Best would be to be his normal joyful self and act as if Ryan and he were just friends until he'd get a chance to talk things through with his boyfriend.

"Can't be too hard to act like we're just friends, can it?" Chad muttered to himself before he pulled his shirt over his head to get into the shower. "After three months together some of Ryan's acting skills must have rubbed off on me. And after all, it's just a dinner!"

* * *

This wasn't a dinner, this was hell. Chad was sure of it. 

He'd been sure of it the moment he'd watched Ryan and his family enter the dining room. One look at Ryan, one small glimpse at the sheer magnificence that was his boyfriend, and Chad had known for sure that pretending to be just friends with that… that walking gorgeousness would be an impossible task.

Maybe not-seeing his boyfriend the entire day after a week of really close proximity had something to do with it. Chad didn't know nor care. But…

He couldn't take his eyes off of the blond boy.

Chad had watched Ryan approach the table wearing an outfit that hid nothing and promised everything. Incredibly tight fitting black pants showed off Ryan's lean legs and the burgundy satin shirt under the black blazer clung to his chest and left nothing to imagination. A matching burgundy newsboy cap completed the outfit and Chad had tried really hard to concentrate on the sparkles on top of the cap to prevent his thoughts (and his blood) from running wild.

But no matter how hard he hadn't looked too closely, he still had to shift nervously in his seat and had to fight a blush from taking over his face.

And yet somehow he'd managed to get through the opening scene and its introductions without following the urge to jump his boyfriend right there and then.

Ryan had of course noticed Chad's discomfort and he'd had the cheek to throw sly smirks over the table every now and then.

And Chad hadn't even dared to try and kick Ryan's shin under the table more than once because that first attempt had ended in Mrs. Evans looking irritated under the table for whatever had bumped against her designer-pumps.

* * *

Throughout the first few dinner courses the conversation at the table had mostly been led by Linus and his cute but sometimes embarrassing curiousness. 

Alyssa Danforth had more than once felt the need to apologize for the bluntness of her youngest but Vance and Darby Evans had obviously taken no offence by whatever came out of Linus' mouth.

On the contrary, it seemed that especially Darby was truly fond of the small boy and his off-hand remarks and nosy questions.

Vance and Tom, who conveniently sat next to each other, mostly talked about business until both Darby and Alyssa ordered them to let business rest for once. It was Christmas Eve after all, wasn't it?

Both men apologized quickly to their spouses and tried to steer the talk into a lighter direction.

Sharpay and Ryan shot a matching grin over to Chad; all three of them silently agreeing that in both families it were obviously the women who wore the pants.

* * *

By the time dinner was nearly done and everyone was enjoying their desert Chad was sure that the evening couldn't get worse. 

Not only was he ready to burst any moment from suppressed sexual tension (why for God's sake did Ryan have to look so amazingly sexy in burgundy?). No, he was also feeling incredibly stupid and completely embarrassed because of the painfully dumb childhood stories his mom had told to everyone's amusement (well, everyone's but his that is).

So while everybody was having a wonderful time listening to "When-Chad-was-young" tales the dark-haired boy kept sending silent prayers towards God or whoever was up there watching over them. He wished for something to happen; something to make someone else the center of attention.

Well, wishes just happened to be horses today because only a moment after Chad had made his plea someone else became (or rather made himself) the center of attention.

But not in a good way, absolutely not.

* * *

Much to everyone's unease the two mothers had soon started a rather delicate topic. 

"So," Alyssa spoke towards Darby, "I know that Sharpay has been seeing Zeke Baylor for some time now."

"Yes," Darby answered with a smile, "and what a charming young man he turned out to be. He's polite and truly amiable. And so devoted to her! He bakes and cooks for her all the time, doesn't he?"

"Just what our princess deserves!" Vance chimed in.

"Of course he's devoted to me, why wouldn't he?" Sharpay stated matter-of-factly.

Ryan rolled his eyes and shared a grin with Chad over the table.

"And what about you, Chad?" Darby suddenly addressed the jock at her side. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

The grin froze on Chad's face and he stared at Mrs. Evans in shock. "Me? Ugh… well, no. I, ugh…"

"Chad went out with a nice smart girl a while back but lately…" Alyssa offered her son a gentle smile, "There hasn't been anybody lately, right, honey?"

Chad threw a quick glance at Ryan who found his caramel cream desert to be very fascinating all of a sudden. No help from there.

"Ahem, well…" Chad stuttered, "you know… I, ugh…"

"No need to be ashamed, Chad. You're young and I'm sure the right one will come someday!" Mrs. Evans offered. Then she took hold of Ryan's hand on the table and squeezed it affectionately.

"After all, Ducky hasn't found the perfect match yet either."

"Mom," Ryan groaned and at the same time Vance let out an embarrassed cough and quickly asked around:

"Who wants more ice cream?"

"Me, me!" Linus and Miles squealed in unison.

The waiter approached after a quick wave from Vance and while he took in everyone's order Sharpay leaned towards her father and said:

"Thanks for changing the subject, Daddy. There's really no need to discuss Ryan's love life while having dinner."

Vance's only reply was a quick pat of his daughter's hand before he turned to Tom again. He didn't hear Sharpay add thoughtfully:

"Or… any other time in fact."

"Oh, well…" a voice from behind suddenly chimed in, "I for my part would love to hear all about Ryan's love life. Especially the parts where I'm co-starring."

Everyone's head shot around to look at the new arrival.

A man, possibly in his early twenties, stood tall and broad-shouldered behind Ryan's chair; clad in faded jeans and a stylish black leather jacket. With a sly smirk on his handsome face he grabbed Ryan's shoulders from behind and leaned down to the stunned boy.

"That's the best part after all, isn't it, Ry?" he whispered seductively. And with everyone at the table still staring open-mouthed at him the man placed a quick peck onto Ryan's blushing cheek before standing up straight again.

He'd made two steps towards the head of the table when Tom finally snapped out of his stunned stupor and jumped up from his seat.

"Alex!" he exclaimed enjoyed and pulled the stranger into his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"Thought it would be a nice surprise to visit my dad for Christmas!" Alex answered with a huge grin and returned the hug.

"Oh, and visiting old friends, too of course," he added when he'd stepped out of his father's embrace to greet the other occupants of the table.

"Darby, Vance… nice to see you again."

"Likewise, son!" Vance replied and shook the offered hand. Darby received a formal kiss on the hand and smiled at the perfect manners Alex displayed. After that the young man turned to Sharpay with a gleam in his eyes and offered her a hand-kiss, too.

"Sharpay," he addressed the beaming girl, "you've become quite a dish."

"Well, thanks," Sharpay waved off good-natured, "I'd say likewise but… well, you're a tad too gay for my taste."

The Evans's, except Ryan who still seemed shell-shocked, shared a kind laugh with Alex. They were apparently used to this kind of friendly banter.

Alex turned towards Alyssa next and took her hand in both of his. "Mrs. Danforth, it's really nice to meet you again so soon."

"You too, Alex," Chad heard his mom reply, "but I told you to call me Alyssa, didn't I?"

Chad had watched the whole scene frozen to the spot but now he suddenly came out of his stupor.

"You know him?" he threw confused at his mom who simply nodded and smiled.

"You must be Chad!"

Alex had meanwhile walked up to Chad's side of the table and was now offering an outstretched hand. "I've heard so much about you!"

Chad stared from the hand to his mom and then back and finally lifted his head to meet the greenest eyes he'd ever seen.

Wow!

He shook the strong hand and held the look for a few seconds until he noticed the green eyes wandering astray and over to Ryan with something like… raw hunger in them.

What the heck…?

Wasn't that HIS boyfriend the guy was so damn openly devouring with his eyes?

"Can't say the same about you, dude. Sorry!" Chad growled and pulled away from Alex' firm grip.

The sudden hostility didn't seem to have any impact on Alex' cheerfulness. He sauntered over to Ryan's side and gently put his hand onto the blonde's shoulder.

"Oh, never mind," he waved off. "There's not much to know about me."

'Again with the touching!' Chad thought distractedly, 'Why is he always touching him?'

Alex had meanwhile grabbed a chair from the next table and sat down next to Ryan.

"I'm just Tom's wayward son Alex, who my dear father ever so often forgets to mention."

"Hey," Tom quickly protested but Alex just threw him a smirk and went on casually:

"Oh, and I'm also this precious jewel's boyfriend. Or... kind of."

HUH?

And before he even knew what was happening Chad had to watch in horror how Alex leaned closer to Ryan to give him another peck on the cheek.

And Ryan?

He didn't do anything.

Chad closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"I think I'm gonna be sick!" he forced out between clenched teeth and bolted from the table.

What the hell was happening here?

* * *

TBC 

**I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter because… well, I thing there's too much na****rration and not enough dialogue in here. And I didn't find a way to include some Linus-cuteness. Sorry for that. I'll try harder in the next chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

Hi there, I'm back with another chapter. And it still isn't the final one! I've decided to post this now (it's very short, sorry) because I didn't want to let you wait for too long. I'm afraid that if there's too much time between updates, people will stop being interested in this. 

A short note on that Alex Character: I have to say some of your reviews took me by surprise. I didn't think that I made Alex that slimy and unlikable. But the majority of you thought of him as horribly conceited and slimy and so I didn't even try in this part to make him more likable… I just made him disappear a lot sooner than I'd first intended. So he won't be around for the grand finale, the Christmas Party. I hope you're okay with it.

* * *

**Christmas something**

**Part Four**

It took Ryan three horribly long seconds of watching Chad stumble through the dining room to pull out of his Alex-induced stupor and away from Alex's possessive embrace.

"Chad!" he cried and jumped up from his seat so fast that the chair toppled over with a loud bang. Every head in the room turned towards the noise and the blond boy who caused it.

"Chad, wait! I'm not…" Ryan shouted and took a step towards where Chad had halted in his flight. "It's not like you think, Chad. He's not my boyfriend!"

"No?" Chad spun around and threw a cold glare back.

"No!" Ryan emphasized, "He's…"

He broke off and gulped at the hurt and anger gleaming in Chad's brown eyes.

"He's not… I mean, we're not..." Ryan pleaded desperately and threw a quick glance at the man sitting smugly at the table, "… it's not like that, Chad!"

"Then why that look, huh? Why?" Chad growled forcefully and when Ryan didn't reply right away he continued: "You know what, Evans? Look at him all you want, cause I don't care anymore!"

He turned around again and started walking through the crowd staring at him.

"Chad, please!" Ryan cried and hurried along.

The last thing heard before the two boys disappeared from sight was:

"Fuck off, Evans!"

* * *

"Mommy, why is Chad angry at Ryan?" Linus' quiet and frightened voice cut through the following silence.

"He's not angry, sweetie. They're just…" Alyssa stopped helplessly.

"But he used the f-word! And he shouted at Ryan. Mommy, why did Chad shout?" Linus inquired further.

"Because Alex was being a complete idiot!" Tom suddenly exclaimed. All heads turned towards him at once.

"Huh?" Alex replied slowly, "What do you mean? I didn't do anything! I thought that…"

"I don't care what you thought!" Tom's normally healthy-tanned face had turned an angry shade of red and his eyes blinked furiously at his son. "You had absolutely no right to put on a show like that! You and Ryan haven't been together for…"

"What do you know about me and Ryan?" Alex's face had grown hot as well, "You never cared about it before! And by the way," he huffed haughtily, "I never broke up with Ryan and neither did he! So technically we're…"

"Oh, shut up already!" Sharpay suddenly piped up, "I'd think that Ryan not answering your pestering calls for weeks and weeks after he caught you cheating on him qualifies as breaking up good and proper, don't you think?"

The blond girl looked at Alex, challenging him to deny her words, and indeed the young man tried to defend himself again.

"It wasn't like that! If he'd only let me explain…"

"He doesn't need to hear your shabby excuses! He doesn't need YOU! He's perfectly happy without you, Alex! In fact, I've never seen my brother happier than in the last three months. And you know why's that?" Sharpay shook her blond locks and stood up. "Because he's in love with Chad! And they're good for each other! Chad makes him happy and… and glowing! And I swear to you, if your stupid show now screwed it up then you're gonna get to know the real ice-princess!"

"Mommy?" Linus tugged at his mother's arm to get her attention. "Why is everybody angry? What did Alex do? Or is it Chad? Did Chad do something wrong?"

"Honey, it's not… you don't…" Alyssa broke off and looked around for help. She was at a loss of how to explain the situation to her youngest. And how could she? She didn't even understand it herself. Chad and… Ryan?

Then, to everyone's surprise, it was Sharpay who came to her rescue. The normally superficial Drama Queen took a deep breath and walked around the table over to where the two small Danforth's were sitting stunned by her outbreak.

"Hey boys," she switched to the sweetest for-children-only voice in a matter of seconds and her next words showed once more that there's more to the ice-princess than meets the eye:

"How about we let the grown-ups work this out by themselves and go watch cartoons instead?"

"I don't wanna watch cartoons!" Linus whined.

"Not even Roadrunner?" Sharpay smiled sweetly.

"No, I… ugh, Roadrunner? Or can we watch Charlie Browne's Christmas?" The tiny face had turned into a sheepish smile and Miles had already jumped up from his seat.

"Sure, Charlie Browne it is, okay?"

And then Sharpay took both kids by the hand and led them out of the dining room, a proud "That's my princess!" from Vance accompanying her to the door.

* * *

An awkward silence settled over the dinner table after Sharpay had left with the kids in tow. And then everyone looked at Alex expectantly who finally seemed to have caught on to the fact that he was to be blamed for the whole fiasco.

"So…" the now pale young man whispered defeated, "Chad and Ryan, hm?"

"Apparently," Tom sighed and threw a cautious look at Alyssa to gauge her reaction.

At the same time Vance let out a nervous laugh and buried his face in the menu, studying it thoroughly .

"Does anybody care for a Digestive?" he asked casually.

"Vance!" Darby's firm voice cut through the paper barrier like a knife and made her husband drop the menu quickly. "You can't hide from this topic forever, darling. Sooner or later you'll have to accept that our son is different."

She sent a gentle smile over the table and Vance replied with a sigh.

"I know, honey. But… do we have to talk about it now?"

"Yes, we do!" Darby replied with a quick glance at the still shell-shocked Alyssa. "Ryan's gay and we've known it for quite some time. And you've been ignoring that fact for several years now, darling. I know it's not an easy thought to accept but… eventually you're gonna have to come to terms with it. Your son is gay, yes…" Darby's eyes lit up when she continued, "…But he's also a charming and polite and don't forget an incredibly gifted boy. He's gentle and amiable and on his way to become a good and upstanding young man. We're very blessed to have him as a son and we love him unconditionally."

The blond woman took hold of Alyssa's hand on the table and gave it a gentle squeeze. Her clear blue eyes shone with love and understanding for the confusion shown on the dark woman's face and she added after a slight pause:

"And I'm sure the same can be said about Chad, too. Am I right?"

"Oh, sure you are," Alyssa quickly answered and looked up from their joined hands, "I love Chad. He's a great boy and nothing will ever change that. It's just that… I always wished for him to… well, I just never thought he would be gay I guess."

"Of course you didn't, dear." Darby replied honestly. "No mother does, but at one point you simply get to see the truth and you have to accept it. It's not Chad's fault… or yours or anyone's… it's just the way things are!"

"But… what do I do now? I mean, I have to talk to him or… I don't know, I…"

Darby interrupted gently: "Just let things go their way. When he's ready to talk about it he will come to you, believe me. That's what our Ducky did after all. When he's ready he'll come!"

"Alright," Alyssa tried a tentative smile while her brown eyes glistened with unshed tears.

The two couples (plus one dejected Alex) sat around the table in contemplative silence till Alex finally addressed his dad cautiously:

"Dad, do you think I should go and talk to them? Try to clear things up?"

"No, leave it! I think you've done enough damage for one day," Tom replied stiffly.

"Damn it, I told you I didn't know…" Alex couldn't keep the anger from his voice and he stood up quickly. "I just wanted to make things right again!"

"By jumping Ryan right on sight when you hadn't spoken to him in half a year? And you knew he didn't want to talk to you!" Tom shook his head sadly and avoided Alex's eyes. "I didn't raise you to behave like that."

"You didn't raise me at all, Dad!" the younger man replied in a bitter voice and started walking out of the room.

"Alex!" Tom shouted after him.

"Forget it, Dad! It was a bad idea coming here, I see that now. Don't know what I was thinking at all."

Tom's eyes followed his departure until Alyssa softy addressed him:

"If you wanna go after him, it's okay."

"No," he send her a smile back, "it's probably for the best like this. And… I think someone asked about Digestives earlier. I wouldn't object at all right now."

"Okay," Vance gleamed and signaled for the waiter, "finally!"

* * *

"Fuck off, Evans!"

Ryan had been so shocked at hearing Chad's angry shout that he'd actually forgotten to walk on. And when he'd finally been able to move his feet again Chad had already passed most of the entrance hall.

Ryan had tried to suit up but… then he'd come to the conclusion that Chad had to have secret super powers.

Clark Kent's super speed or… an invisibility cloak like Harry Potter had.

Because one minute Ryan had caught a glimpse of Chad's curly hair rushing outside through the big entrance door and the next, when Ryan had opened said door panting and gasping and turning his head around frantically to discover Chad outside, the jock had miraculously vanished.

Truly desperate now, the blond boy had tried to follow the footprints Chad's sneakers had left in the thick snow. But… Ryan had never been a boy scout and therefore…

It was hopeless, there were just too many.

Head hanging low and shivering quite a lot Ryan returned to the entrance hall and from there went straight into the elevator. Once the doors slid closed behind him he slouched down onto his heels and buried his face in shaking hands.

But he wouldn't cry!

No matter how hard it was for him to hold the tears that pricked behind his eyelids like sandpaper… he wouldn't cry!

He would drag his dejected body over the plush carpet on fourth's floor and he would hold his composure until he'd reached the safety of his own rooms.

There he would let loose, there he would rage and shout and crumble and cry.

And there he would fall into bed exhausted, unable to find sleep for a long time. And when sleep would finally come Ryan would dream about Chad, the embodiment of a dream come true and about Alex, the walking nightmare.

What a lovely Christmas this was!

* * *

**TBC**

**I'm sorry if this was rather short and not very happy. But I promise: a happy ending will come! Soon!**


	5. Chapter 5

I'm terribly sorry for the long delay. I'm not that much into Chyan anymore, my mind has been taken over by new obsessions and real life, but still… I had to finish this for you and… damn, this chapter is still not the end!

I don't know why but I can't seem to get there. I was really determined to finish the story with this chapter, but after I wrote 10 pages and there was still no end in sight I just thought: 'What the heck, I'm gonna post this now!' I really hope you like it.

* * *

** Christmas something (or should I make that Easter something?)**

**Part Five**

Chad slammed the door to his room shut and locked it in advance. He knew that sooner or later someone would come looking for him and he didn't want to see anyone right now. There was so much going on in his head, so many jumbled emotions and thoughts… he couldn't talk to anyone.

Certainly not to his mom who would be out of her mind from worry by now… and least of all to Ryan.

Chad fell down onto his bed and buried his face in the pillow.

Ryan who had done absolutely nothing to fight off the advances of this… this asshole Alex.

Well, okay… he'd said that Alex wasn't his boyfriend, but then…

The look Ryan had sent over to that jerk… fleetingly, insecure…

So very not-Ryan. Not the Ryan Chad had thought he'd come to know, come to lo…

'No,' Chad thought determined and screwed his eyes shut forcefully. He wouldn't think about love now! Or Ryan… or Alex…

He wouldn't let himself think about anything at all.

Chad turned onto his left and pulled the covers over his fully dressed body, not even bothering to remove his shoes.

Who cared about stains on the bedcovers when the world around him was slowly falling apart?

* * *

It was nearly midnight when Alyssa and Tom finally said goodnight to Darby and Vance and made their way to their suite after a long and tiring conversation.

After releasing Sharpay from babysitting duties and making sure her two baby's were sleeping peacefully Alyssa walked straight over to her eldest son's rooms but found the door locked. No knocking or pleading through the thick material brought forth any reaction from inside and so she eventually turned away dejected.

Well, at least Chad was safely inside and not wandering around in the cold like she'd feared all along. He was probably asleep by now.

Perhaps a good night's rest was what they all needed right now. Tomorrow things would look a little brighter, right?

They had to, it was Christmas Day after all.

* * *

The next day was Christmas, alright, but… the morning didn't bring any brightness whatsoever.

Quite the contrary. It seemed as if whoever was responsible for the weather had spontaneously decided to adjust to the ongoing mood around. Cause where for the last few days sunshine had illuminated the world and reflected in the snowy mountains, Christmas morning started out with thick clouds hanging dangerously low in a gray and bleary sky.

The weather forecast had sent out warnings about heavy snowfalls and maybe even a storm to come in the afternoon. They'd strongly advised people to stay inside and that 'safely waiting it out' would be for the best.

Independent of the weather forecast Chad had come to the same conclusion when he'd woken from a sleep much too light and constantly disturbed by nightmares.

Horrible images of watching Ryan make out with Alex in public had changed into pictures of his mom breaking into tears when she'd looked at Chad disappointedly and Chad had bolted from sleep drenched in sweat more than once during the night.

One look out of the window into the bleary morning sky and Chad had fallen back onto the bed, had pulled the covers over his head and tried to ignore everything around him.

Thinking about the past evening made his stomach lurch painfully and a blush creep onto his dark face.

And it wasn't even Ryan's behavior that did it.

No, Chad was embarrassed to the bones about his own actions last night. Now that he could think a bit more clearly the jock had come to see that he'd been totally overreacting.

Sure, that Alex-freak had been all over Ryan… with the touching and ruffling the blond hair… and, yes, Ryan hadn't actually been protesting too strongly… at first.

But then… then he'd tried to assure that Alex wasn't his boyfriend… anymore at least. Obviously they'd some kind of history together but… what if that's all it was? History?

Chad let out a deep sigh. He should have stayed cool and let Ryan explain, he should have believed his boyfriend, listened to him… and not run off like some pouting heartbroken girl!

God, he'd acted like a lovesick jerk and had made a complete fool of himself.

And in public! In front of his whole family (and the Evans's, too).

And now they all knew.

He'd come out to everybody! To his mom!

A new wave of shame overtook Chad and he buried his head deeper in the soft pillow. What must they all think of him now? His mom, his brothers… and Ryan?

"Oh God," Chad groaned, "I'm never gonna come out of this room again!"

* * *

Alyssa Danforth walked over to the plush couch and sat down next to Tom with a sigh.

"It's no use," she complained, "he won't come out of his room. He won't even talk to me."

"You have to give him time, honey." Tom answered and pulled his girlfriend near his chest. He stroked her dark hair softly and put a loose strand back behind her ear. "He will come out eventually."

Alyssa let out a strangled laugh at that particular phrasing and Tom smiled sheepishly.

"I meant out of the room."

"Yeah," Alyssa sighed, "the other coming-out is rather unnecessary now, don't you think? At least to us."

"Does Chad know that?" Tom inquired.

"Of course, I tried to tell him that we knew and… we're okay with it. But…" she let the sentence trail off and sighed again.

"He'll come around," Tom assured and gave her a soft kiss, "I'm sure he will."

* * *

Meanwhile on the fourth floor Ryan was desperately trying to block out the constant pounding on his door by pressing a pillow over his ears but… it was no use.

He threw a quick glance at the alarm clock. 10:13 o'clock.

Sharpay had been hammering against the wooden door for exactly eleven minutes now and Ryan just knew that she wouldn't stop any time soon.

Damn his overly headstrong twin!

He let out a sigh and rolled off the bed to drag his tired body over to the door. Without opening it he shouted like he'd done two times before already:

"Would you fucking stop that, Shar?"

"No!" his twin answered (just like she'd done the other two times) and gave the door one really hard bang for good measure before she resumed knocking an annoying rhythm. She even had the nerve to sing along.

"Joy to the world, joy to the world, joy to the…"

"STOP THAT!" Ryan cried and yanked the door open in such a rush that Sharpay's fist crashed against his chest in one painfully blow.

"Ouch!" the blond boy yelped and stumbled backwards. One hand pressed against his aching sternum he glared at his sister marching in and then he gave the door an equally hard kick to close it forcefully.

Sharpay stared him down indifferently.

"Don't look at me like that, Ry. You deserve no better for letting me wait outside for so long!"

"I deserve…" Ryan repeated stunned. "Nobody told you to come pestering me, Shar!"

"You stood me up!" his sister stated simply.

"Huh?"

"We had a date, Ryan." Sharpay said and when the confused frown didn't leave Ryan's face she clarified annoyed:

"Hel-lo-o! Rehearsals, remember? We said ten o'clock!"

Ryan couldn't stop a disbelieving snort from coming out.

"You're kidding, right? Sharpay," he sighed exasperated, "did you really think that after what happened last night I was gonna go sing happy Christmas tunes with you?"

He shook his blond head, "And here I thought being twins meant that you knew me at least a little."

Ryan plopped down onto the bedside and buried his face in both hands, the perfect picture of misery.

A moment later the mattress dipping slightly indicated that Sharpay had sat down beside him and sure enough a hand suddenly came resting on his shoulder.

"I do know you, Ry," Sharpay said, "and what's even more astonishing is that I know Danforth as well. He'll come around soon enough."

"No, he won't!" came Ryan's muffled reply. "He thinks I'm with Alex… he thinks… he really believes me capable of cheating on him!"

The blonde's head came up and bitter blue eyes looked at Sharpay. "You don't know him, Shar… and neither do I, I guess."

"Oh, puh-lease, Ry!" Sharpay stood up and started pacing the floor. "Enough with the self-pity! It was a simple misunderstanding, that's all! And Chad totally overreacted and freaked out and I'm sure he's getting it now and probably is completely ashamed by now. Ashamed about the scene he made and his public coming-out and not about…"

Sharpay broke off, completely surprised by her own insightfulness. Why was she so understanding all of a sudden? And, even worse, genuinely compassionate?

She threw a self-conscious glance at her brother who stared back at her with eyes as big as saucers. After a while an unsure smile started tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"You think? Really?"

Sharpay nodded slowly and smirked:

"You'll see, his freakage won't last till lunchtime and by tonight's party he's gonna come crawling back, begging you to take him back already!"

Ryan wasn't so sure about that. Chad had been pretty pissed at him last night… he'd told him to fuck off… but maybe…

Maybe Sharpay was right and Chad was more embarrassed about coming out to his family than he was angry with him.

Maybe he would indeed come crawling back to him…

Ryan couldn't help it when his thoughts turned into a different direction all of a sudden. 'Hhm, Chad crawling and begging… is it suddenly hot in here or what?'

Ryan blushed but didn't care at all. It was normal, wasn't it? Thinking about sex when he'd gotten so used to it?

After all, he'd had sex with Chad every day for the last…, in fact, these few days of the Winter Break with Chad he'd had more sex than in all his previous years at the Resort combined…

And Ryan was suddenly very determined. He wouldn't let the best (and hottest) Winter Break he'd ever had get ruined by a stupid misunderstanding.

Not to mention the deepest and truest relationship he'd ever had!

He would find a way to make Chad see reason and come back to him, crawling and begging or not.

Well, if he had a say in this, these two would definitely be involved sooner or later.

* * *

It was right before lunch that Linus was crouched down beside a big decorative plant in the halls opposite Chad's door, his heart thumping in his chest, waiting breathlessly for the room service to arrive.

Earlier he'd overheard his mom order a late breakfast for Chad and he'd known right then that this would be his one and only chance.

He knew he could do this, he had to! He'd promised Ryan, and Ryan was his bestest friend and… well, he just needed a bit of luck. And the right timing. And Miles, of course.

Soon enough the elevator dinged open and a waiter stepped out, pushing a small cart loaded with a breakfast tray in front of him.

'Now, Miles!' Linus thought desperately and when he heard a loud clattering coming from around the corner he couldn't help but smile proudly. No matter that he and Miles didn't always get along very well (they were brothers, so… duh), in family emergencies like this they knew they could count on each other.

Like now.

Linus watched the waiter look around for the cause of commotion and, seeing none, he took a few steps around the corner. That was all Linus needed.

Quick as a lightning he dashed out from behind the plant and flew over to the waiter's cart. The small boy lifted the white linen with speedy hands and hurriedly crawled underneath, pulled the fabric back down immediately and held his breath.

He just hoped his small weight wouldn't make much of a difference to the waiter, who came back to his cart, muffling something about 'stupid little boys destroying precious decor'.

Linus still held his breath when the waiter pushed the tray in front of Chad's door and knocked politely.

"Room service."

The door was opened after a few seconds and Linus couldn't stop a sly smile from spreading over his face when he, along with the tray, was pushed inside Chad's room.

So much for sneakiness.

And now on to the difficult part.

* * *

"Thanks," Chad muttered and watched the waiter close the door behind him. Then he cautiously lifted the tray's cover and glanced at the breakfast underneath.

Cereals, jelly-toast and several fruits stared back at him but Chad didn't feel like eating right now. He simply grabbed the glass of orange juice and took it with him over to the window where he stood, watching the gray sky and taking a slow sip every now and then.

The clouds seemed to rush by and it would certainly start snowing soon but Chad didn't care. He wasn't planning on going anywhere today, he would…

CRASH

Chad spun around at the sudden noise from behind and the sight that greeted him made him nearly drop his juice.

The waiter's cart lay pushed onto its side and the tray and all the breakfast things were scattered over the plush carpet. One red apple was rolling away from a broken plate and came to a halt bouncing against… a small shoe?

Huh, what the…

Chad couldn't believe his eyes. There was his little brother, lying sprawled on the floor with toast and cereals all over him and an apple at his feet.

"Linus?" Chad asked dumbfounded and took two steps further into the room. "What…? I mean, how did you…?"

"Ugh," Linus smiled sheepishly and sat up, "I sneaked in with the waiter… you know, under the cart."

"Very sneaky," Chad couldn't help but smile slightly.

"I totally was," the small boy emphasized, "but then… my shoelace got caught in the wheels when I tried to climb out and, well…"

"I see," Chad sighed and started collecting the sprawled items to put them back onto the rightly placed again cart. "So, what do you want?"

The sound of his voice told Linus that his brother wasn't too happy with him being here and he fidgeted around with his hands under Chad's unyielding glare before he finally stated softly:

"I'm… ugh, I mean, I want to… are you gonna be angry and shout at me as well?"

"What?" Chad's eyes grew wide at the sight of genuine worry in the kid's face. He plopped heavily onto the bedside and took a deep breath. But before he could start reassuring the small boy that he wasn't angry, Linus continued anxiously:

"You shouted at Ryan yesterday and then you ran off, and Ryan too and then…" he sat down next to Chad on the bed and went on in a rush, determined to get it all out:

"Then everybody was suddenly shouting. First Tom and Alex and then Sharpay too and then Alex ran off and mom says he's not gonna come back for the Christmas party… not that I care because I don't like him at all. He made both you and Ryan leave and… and he made me miss more ice-cream and… Sharpay let us watch Charley Browne's Christmas, that was nice, but… I didn't get to open one gift like we normally do on Christmas Eve and… it was the worst Christmas Eve ever and…"

Linus had to stop to take a much-needed breath but before Chad noticed (he was still trying to straighten out the jumbled thoughts of his brother) the small boy spoke again:

"And I don't want you and Ryan to be angry and fighting because Ryan is my best friend and… and I like him. He's funny and he gave me a hat and… and I don't like Miles calling him 'queer'… though I don't know what that means but… I guess it's nothing nice… although it sounds a bit like 'queen' and that's something nice, isn't it? But I guess queer is a bad word because mom got furious when she heard Miles say it."

Linus looked up at Chad and scooted closer so that he could lean against Chad's side. The older boy instinctively put an arm around his brother, deeply lost in thoughts.

Obviously there'd been a hell of a lot going on last night, hadn't it? The dinner… Chad could only assume what had been the cause for everyone shouting at each other, Alex and Tom and Sharpay… but if it had ended in Alex leaving than it could only mean that…

"Chad, is it a bad word?" Linus interrupted his train of thought and Chad came reluctantly back to reality. He looked down into the waiting small face of his brother and muttered:

"Oh, yeah, I guess it hasn't as nice a meaning as 'queen'."

"But what **does** it mean then?" Linus wanted to know.

Another deep sigh escaped Chad. How should he explain something like this to a six-year-old? But explain it he would. He thought that, after involuntarily coming out to everyone and ruining Christmas Eve for them, it was the least he could do now. Be honest about it. So Chad took a breath and started to explain:

"You see, queer is a bad word that stupid people use for someone who… who likes other boys. Take Ryan for example, he likes other boys and… some people are freaked-out and call him queer. But that's not right. They should say 'gay' instead, or… better yet, say nothing at all. It's nothing wrong with being gay, no matter what people tell you, okay?"

"Okay," Linus replied and Chad could see the gears turn in his small head when Linus scrunched his nose and crooked his head to the side. His curls bounced against Chad's arm when he finally asked:

"So, Ryan is gay, okay. I get that. But… does that make you gay, too? I mean, because you like him?"

Chad briefly hesitated before he replied: "Yes, I'm gay too. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure," Linus shrugged and after a small pause he added: "After all, I'm also gay."

"What?" Chad exclaimed.

"Well, I like Ryan too, so…"

Chad tried to stifle his laugh when he answered: "Ugh… look, Linus. I'm sure you like him but… that's different, okay?"

"No," Linus frowned. "It's not! Do you think he doesn't like me back? Because he does, you know? He said so, I'm his bestest friend!"

"Of course he likes you back, you annoying little grasshopper." Chad ruffled though the thick curls so much like his own and went on:

"But it's still different, okay?"

"Why?" Linus inquired further.

Oh God, why had he started this? Chad thought desperately about how to explain the difference without… you know, telling too much.

"Because," he tried, "look: Do you think you like Ryan the same way mom likes Tom?"

Linus thought about it. "You mean with… kissing and… stuff?"

'Stuff?' Chad thought, horrified by what Linus might have stumbled upon accidentally.

"Ugh, yeah… let's take the kissing," Chad quickly agreed. "Do you want to kiss Ryan?"

"No!" Linus made a face imagining that. "Do you?"

Shit!

'Well done, dude!' Chad groaned inwardly. But, hey… in for a penny, in for a pound… He could just as well go and say it, couldn't he?

"Yes."

"Really?" Linus gasped. He didn't sound grossed-out to Chad, just adoringly curious.

"Yes, really," Chad smiled and fought a blush in vain. "And that's the difference. If you like a boy so much that you wanna kiss him… then you're gay."

"Okay," Linus stated at once, "then I'm not gay at all. But I'm still Ryan's bestest friend!"

Not waiting for a reply the tiny boy jumped from the bed and trotted over to pick up a small package from the ground. Chad hadn't noticed it before now, too wrapped up in first his thoughts and then the discussion with Linus.

The package must have fallen off the cart earlier. Linus brought it back to the bed and pushed it into the surprised Chad's hands. It was a Christmas gift, wobbly and soft and wrapped in simple blue paper.

Chad frowned and asked: "You brought a present with you?"

Linus nodded and after sitting next to Chad again he said:

"Ryan asked me to give it to you."

"Ryan?" Chad gasped and eyed the gift once again, "Ryan gave this to you?"

"Yeah, he came to me after breakfast and asked about you," Linus grinned, "And when I said that you'd locked yourself in here he came up with the plan to smuggle myself under the waiter's cart to get to you."

"That was his idea?" Chad couldn't believe it. So Ryan wanted him to get his Christmas gift? He wanted him to… he still wanted him? Even after his stupid behavior last night?

"Wow!" Chad shouted suddenly and Linus nearly fell off the bed in shock.

"Hey, are you gonna open it?" he asked.

"What?"

Oh, right… the gift.

Chad pulled the bright yellow bow to the side and started tearing the wrapping apart. He couldn't wait to see what Ryan had gotten him. The paper flew to the floor only seconds later and then…

Then Chad's lap was suddenly full of something unbelievably soft and fluffy.

"Clothes?" Linus groaned at the sight of the beautiful shirt, no… a jumper, colored in the darkest blue Chad had ever seen.

"He brought you clothes? What a stupid gift! Doesn't he know that Santa's already bringing boring clothes?"

But Chad wasn't really listening to his brother. He'd unfolded the jumper with shaking hands and had noticed the motto at once. Big white letters on the chest said:

"I don't dance…"

A smile spread over Chad's face when he remembered the circumstances that had led to him saying (or singing) these words for the first time on the baseball field at Lava Springs. So much had happened since then… but somehow both he and Ryan seemed to regard this single summer day as truly memorable for their relationship.

So memorable in fact that they'd both tried to capture the spirit in their mutual Christmas gifts.

Chad briefly thought about the delicate glass sphere with the baseball players inside before his eyes wandered back to the jumper again.

It was really beautiful.

Chad stood up and pulled his own shirt over the head to try on the new one. It fit perfectly, Ryan knew his body well.

Oh, well, of course he did, he'd seen and touched it countless times, hadn't he?

Chad's hands caressed the shirt fondly until he suddenly came across a different kind of fabric under his fingers. He looked down at the shirt's band and noticed for the first time another sentence there at the bottom.

It wasn't printed but hand-stitched onto the entire seam, all around the shirt in a cycle. The same dark blue color as the jumper made it nearly unnoticeable to the eyes but Chad could feel it. He quickly pulled the shirt off again and turned it so that he could read the words properly. Now they were clearly visible, at least if you knew what to look for.

Neatly stitched calligraphy read:

"… but if I would, it would only be with my wonderful boyfriend. So… sorry, girls, no chance in hell. You may just as well get lost and try bothering somebody else."

Chad laughed out loud.

Oh my god, that was so… him.

"What?" Linus suddenly asked. "What's so funny? It's just a jumper, Chad!"

"Just a jumper, yeah." Chad replied and sent his brother a brilliant smile before he put the fabric back on.

"Linus," he addressed the small boy, "I've gotta go find Ryan, okay? Tell mom…" he hesitated briefly and went over to the shelf where he'd put Ryan's gift the day before, "tell her that I'm okay and I've gotta see my boyfriend, okay?"

Not waiting for a reply Chad ushered Linus out of the room and started running down the hall to the stairs, the bag with Ryan's gift swaying dangerously to and fro with each bounce.

Linus stared after him for a few seconds before he shook his small head, turned on the spot and entered his mommy's rooms.

If being like that over a boring jumper was what being gay did to you, well then Linus was suddenly very sure that he would never be gay. Not even a little bit.

He hated getting clothes as a present after all!

* * *

**TBC**

**I don't know when, but I'm gonna try and write the happy ending as soon as I can. Please, tell me how you like this in the meantime.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Christmas something Part Six**

Ryan was anxious, there was no other word for it. He was pacing back and forth his room, hands fidgeting nervously with the hem of his shirt, every now and then throwing another fleeting glance at the clock.

How long could it take Linus, his little partner in crime, to get into Chad's room and talk Chad into having a look at the Christmas gift Ryan had sent along?

Would Chad even want to take a look? Or was he still convinced that Ryan had cheated on him with Alex? Was he still angry?

Ryan let out another sigh and again looked at the time. Nearly half past noon…

Maybe he should… you know… go over to Chad's room?

Waiting here inside his room playing sitting duck wasn't so clever, was it? Who knew if Chad even wanted to come talk to him after he got the gift? Wouldn't it be better if Ryan went over there?

'Right,' Ryan nodded determined and took a deep breath. Then he turned around and after a quick look into the mirror to check his appearance (even in extremely dire situations like these it wouldn't do to neglect his looks) he went to the door and stepped into the halls…

…And ran smack faced into someone standing in his way. Someone with bouncy curls and a bag in his hands.

"Ow!" Ryan complained and rubbed the spot on his chest that had collided with Chad's elbow, the exact same spot that Sharpay had hit earlier today. Now it was bound to get bruised for sure but Ryan couldn't care less right now because…

Chad was here! And he was wearing Ryan's Christmas gift, the blue jumper Ryan had thought out the design for and had it hand-made solely for him.

"Chad," Ryan exclaimed softly, "you're here!"

"Yeah, I…" Chad stopped and quickly stepped over the threshold into Ryan's suite. As soon as Ryan had followed and had closed the door both boys turned to each other and began talking simultaneously.

"I'm really sorry for…"

"Chad, I'm not with Alex…"

Both broke off at the same time and after a shared hopeful grin Ryan beckoned Chad to speak first.

"I wanted to say sorry for the whole scene I caused last night, Ry. And… for calling you an asshole."

"It's okay, Chad. I wasn't…" Ryan broke off and looked astonished. "You called me an asshole?"

"I did. Sorry, man." Chad looked chagrinned.

"Well, I deserved it, didn't I? I should have said something when Alex was… you know. It's just…" Ryan walked over to the bed and plopped down. "I hadn't seen him for half a year… or longer, I don't know, and… well, he was the first guy I… whatever. And it was a pretty bad breakup and… then he was suddenly standing there and… it all came back to me and I was so shocked to see him and…"

Ryan looked up from his hands and found Chad's gaze locked onto his eyes. It wasn't angry or crushed like he'd expected, but honest and compassionate.

"Ryan," Chad said and his voice was soft and full of feeling. "Stop defending yourself. I get it and… seriously, I don't care whom you've been with in the past. The important thing is… you're with me now and… I… I'd like for it to stay that way because…" Chad took a deep breath.

"Because I love you."

For a second Ryan stared at the slight flush covering Chad's face, brought on by the startling confession. Then he jumped up and crushed the other boy in his arms. He hugged him tightly, buried his face in the thick curls and whispered: "Oh God, I love you, too!"

Like a magnet being pulled forward to anything iron their lips smashed together in a bruising kiss and two pairs of hands began to frantically pull at each other's clothes.

Ryan lost his balance and fell backwards onto the bed, his grip on Chad never loosening, and Chad crashed on top of the slightly smaller boy and knocked the air out of Ryan's lungs for a short moment. Not that Ryan really noticed, he was too busy pulling Chad's sweater up and over the jock's head. Chad hurriedly sat up to help, also loosing his undershirt in the process, and then he went for the buttons on Ryan's shirt. He was surprised to discover that Ryan had forgone wearing an undershirt today and the sight of pale naked flesh revealed with every opened button spurred Chad on to new heights.

He tore the fabric apart and then bent down to cover Ryan's chest with wet kisses and licks, his hands moving down to straining hips held in place by his own body.

Chad tried to reach for Ryan's fly but the angle was weird with him sitting on top and Ryan must have noticed it too because the next moment he did something with his legs and arms and Chad suddenly found himself flipped over and sprawled on the bed.

"Wow," he gasped, "how did you…?"

"Yoga," Ryan shrugged breathlessly and bent down for a brief kiss before he moved his body lower until he was kneeling next to Chad's outstretched legs. Within seconds he'd opened the darker boy's jeans and had pulled them down and off (thank God Chad had lost his shoes sometime earlier already, otherwise this would have ended in clothes bunched around his ankles). Chad's boxers and socks followed the jeans closely.

He was completely naked now and Ryan stopped a moment to take in the gorgeous sight before he too made quick work shredding his own shoes, socks, pants and boxer briefs.

Then he put on a show of slowly crawling back onto the bed and over Chad's waiting body until the jock couldn't take it any longer and pulled Ryan down to lie flush against him. The sudden friction in all the right places forced a low moan from his throat and sent a shiver down his spine.

The moan was quickly swallowed by Ryan's lips though and both boys devoured each other's mouths' hungrily for the next few minutes, breathing harshly through their noses and groping frantically at every body part available.

Their hips rocked back and forth more powerful with every move and it made their straining erections clash and rub together in just the right way. They both felt like climax would hit them any time now and it was good and… really good and still, it wasn't enough.

Chad suddenly pulled his mouth away from Ryan's and forced his hips to stop moving.

"God, Ry…" he gasped and looked into blue eyes a little dazed and blurry. "I want… I need… gah, oh God, Ry. I need… more!"

"More?" Ryan swallowed and tried to concentrate on Chad's face and not on what the rest of him was doing to his body. He stilled his frantic hips and brought one hand up to caress Chad's face. The jock gulped and for a second he had to close his eyes against the onslaught of feelings that threatened to completely overwhelm him.

He'd never felt like this before, so good and loved and… alive. Chad opened his eyes again and gazed at Ryan. And there was something so intense in that look, a fire, that Ryan had never seen before.

"Ry, I want…" Chad said and his voice was soft but steady. "I want you to fuck me."

Ryan's blue eyes widened just a fraction and his breath hitched in his throat. "You… Chad, are you sure?"

He could feel his heart hammer against his ribcage and his flushed face heated even more.

Because… for all the outer bravado and flirty sex talk he and Chad had mastered to near perfection over the course of their relationship… despite all the secret make-out sessions in school closets, theater-prop rooms or hotel cabinets… they hadn't done… that yet.

Anything involving actual penetration… it was the one huge leap they hadn't taken together.

"I'm sure, I've never been so sure of anything. Please, Ry, I need you to…" Chad emphasized his words with a powerful thrust of his hips and Ryan actually whimpered. "I mean… that is, only if… if you want to of course."

Ryan didn't answer but his eyes gleamed when he locked his mouth to Chad's in a powerful and hungry kiss. His left hand meanwhile searched for the nightstand next to the bed and he quickly pulled the first drawer open and fumbled around blindly. When his hand returned it held a condom and a small tube of body lotion.

"Take this."

Ryan sat back on his heels between Chad's knees and handed the condom over. While he could hear Chad cautiously tear the wrapping he concentrated on swiftly unscrewing the tube to press a big dollop of lotion from it onto his right hand.

Chad had meanwhile freed the condom and Ryan yelped in shock when a warm hand suddenly wrapped around the base of his dick to hold it steady while Chad slowly slid the condom over it with great care.

"God," Ryan gasped and had to steady himself with his free hand on Chad's hip. He bit down hard on his bottom lip to keep himself from coming (and wouldn't that just be a blast – not!) and watched Chad's face with hooded eyes.

He felt the condom touch the base of his dick and Chad's hand withdraw with a caress to his thigh. Then the darker boy drew both his knees up and apart so that Ryan was kneeling in between with free access to… his goal so to speak. But Ryan quickly shook his head and whispered:

"You better turn onto your stomach, Chad."

"No, I wanna see you," Chad replied instantly and motioned for Ryan to get on with it already.

"Chad," Ryan sighed and again nibbled at his bottom lip. "This is your first time and I don't wanna hurt you."

"You won't!"

"But I…"

"I trust you, Ry!"

Ryan let out an irritated sigh. "It's not a matter of trust, Chad. It's a fact, plain and simple. The fist time hurts if it isn't done right. Believe me, I would know. And I'm not gonna do that to you, so stop being all manly and heroic and fucking turn around already!"

Chad's eyes gleamed and his hard cock twitched slightly at hearing Ryan's rising voice. God, Ryan in bitch-mode always got him hot, or, well… hotter!

But he was also a stubborn bastard and so Chad replied unimpressed: "Why don't you stop being so bossy and get on with it already? Use your fingers first, one at a time, and then we'll see. If you hurt me I'll let you know!"

"I know how it's done, Chad, you don't have to…"

"Then what the hell's taking you so long?" Chad sat up and quickly pulled Ryan in for a bruising kiss. "Fucking do it already!"

He plopped back down and spread his legs wider, grabbing under his knees to lift his ass into the air, and waited for Ryan to move.

The blond boy stared into Chad's determined face for a second before he shook his head in defeat and started coating his fingers in squishy lotion. Then he bent down, kissed Chad again and sighed:

"Okay, but… please Chad, tell me to stop if I hurt you."

"Deal!" Chad grinned triumphantly and braced himself for the invasion he knew had to come.

But Ryan took his time, he languidly drew his fingers over Chad's straining cock all the way down to his balls first, squeezing each of them gently and earning a shuddered gasp for it. He drew a small trail of lotion down over the perineum and then circled the puckered hole, smearing the makeshift lube everywhere around it.

A throaty moan left Chad's lungs and he let go of his legs to fist the bedcovers on either side of his body. Ryan quickly pulled Chad's legs onto his shoulders before he resumed his slow preparations.

They were too slow for Chad's liking but he didn't dare to complain, afraid that Ryan would stop his ministrations altogether if he opened his mouth again. So he simply screwed his eyes shut and willed his body to stop quivering.

When he felt Ryan slowly push his index finger forward and inside Chad couldn't help but shudder again.

"You good?" Ryan asked immediately and watched Chad's face for any sign of discomfort. But the only answer he got from the jock was a groan accompanied by an urgent push of hips that somehow managed to pull the invading digit further inside. "Shall I take that as a yes?" Ryan chuckled and started to gently move his finger in and out.

"God, yes! More, Ry!" Chad growled. "I'm not gonna break!"

The blond boy smiled again and when he felt Chad's muscles loose to let him in more easily he pulled out completely and swiftly returned with a coated middle finger in tow. Chad clamped around him tightly and Ryan's dick twitched in response to the heat surrounding his fingers.

God, he could barely stop himself from coming right there and then, how the hell should he manage to last long enough to actually put his dick inside?

"God, Chad. You feel so fucking good!" he moaned and pulled his fingers in and out repeatedly.

"Less talking and more fucking, Ry!" Chad forced out between two breaths that turned into guttural groans when Ryan made a scissoring motion inside.

He felt around for the small bump that he knew had to be there somewhere and…

"Arrgh!! Oh holy shit!" Chad exclaimed when stars exploded before his eyes and he felt like floating.

'Found it!' Ryan smirked inwardly and repeated the motion with a third finger joining in. He moved them in and out over and over, screwed them around and brushed Chad's prostate repeatedly until Chad let out a desperate whimper and begged: "Oh please, Ry! Stop the teasing and… oh fuck… please, do it now! God, please, fuck me!"

"You sure? I could still go on preparing you. I don't wanna hurt you, Chad!"

Ryan wasn't sure how he managed to think so reasonably when he was actually mere two seconds away from bursting. But he really didn't wanna hurt Chad.

"Ry, please! I won't last much longer if you keep that up and I want my first time to actually have a dick inside before I shoot all over you, so… please!" Chad had spoken through clenched teeth and his eyes were screwed shut. Ryan looked down to where Chad's erection was standing straight up, full and purple and ready to burst any moment.

"Alright," he answered finally and pulled his fingers out again. He moved his pelvis up to align it with Chad's ass, grabbed the base of his cock to steady it and to hold the condom in place (and also again to keep himself from shooting his load early), and then he slowly and very carefully shoved his dick inside the well-prepared hole, inch by agonizing inch.

"Oh God!" both boys groaned simultaneously when the heat and tight pressure threatened to overwhelm them immediately.

"Oh yes!" Chad cried and thrust his hips up to meet Ryan's downwards push. The movement propelled Ryan's cock all the way forward until his balls slapped heavily against Chad's ass. He forced much-needed air into his lungs and willed his hips to not push forward again immediately. Chad would need a moment to get used to the foreign invasion, Ryan knew as much from experience. He didn't know though if he would last as long, feeling Chad's ass clamping hot and so tight around him… it was nearly too much.

"God, move! Please Ryan, move already!" Chad shouted desperately after a second and Ryan could feel the muscles around his dick stop gripping so tightly. He hurried to oblige, pulling out slowly and then slamming back inside.

"Yes, God yes!"

Ryan leaned back a little and angled his thrusts to aim for that spot again and, oh God… it felt so good, so tight, so hot…

"Gah!" Chad cried out again and groped around with his hands for any part of Ryan to hold on to. His right leg fell from Ryan's shoulder and he spread it wide, giving Ryan the chance to lean over it, braced on one elbow, and nearer to Chad's face. He bent down to Chad's collarbone, sucking and biting with blunt teeth and wet lips and Chad's hand came up to tousle his sweaty blond hair.

"God, Chad… I," Ryan mumbled into Chad's heated skin.

"Please Ry, God… please!" Chad didn't know what he was begging for… harder, more… anything to make this wonderful feeling even more fantastic.

The bed squeaked in rhythm with every powerful stroke that Ryan made and Chad met with equal force and desperation.

Unconsciously Ryan's hand stoked down Chad's chest and stomach to find Chad's neglected dick and Chad let out a relieved cry when he felt, finally, the friction he'd needed all along.

"Oh yes, Ry! Oh fuck… oh, oh God…" Chad babbled incoherently with every pull of Ryan's grip on his cock. "Yes, Ry! I'm… oh, gah! I'm gonna…"

"Come for me, Chad!" Ryan urged and the words hadn't fully left his mouth when he felt a spasm shoot through the body under him and…

"Ooohhh, God! Yeeesss!" Chad cried when jet after jet of hot come spurted from his pulsing dick onto Ryan's hand and his own stomach.

Ryan felt Chad's ass clamp around his dick, gripping it tight and hot and… he pushed forward frantically, loosing his rhythm completely in his fervent urge to get to completion and his balls slapped against Chad's ass repeatedly, already drawn up high, ready to shoot any second.

"Chad, I… God, Chad… Chad… Chaaaaaad!"

The last word turned into a deep guttural moan when climax finally hit Ryan and he felt his dick pulse inside Chad over and over until he was completely spent at last.

He let Chad's leg drop from his shoulder and slumped down exhausted, without pulling out of Chad, half on top of him, half on the mattress, gulping heavily for air.

Chad stoked over the blond head at his side, also breathing hard, and placed sloppy kisses on Ryan's hair.

".God. That was…"

"Fantastic," Ryan gasped and shifted a little to pull his spent dick out, grasping the condom at the base to prevent it from slipping off. He tied it quickly with a knot and let it drop to the floor, not caring where it went for now.

Because for now all Ryan wanted to do was curl up in his boyfriend's arms, share a few more sloppy and exhausted kisses… and fall asleep. And to not move again, possibly until New Year's Eve.

* * *

The lover's post-coital slumber merely lasted for an hour or so.

Ryan woke up snuggled onto his right side with Chad draped completely over his back, their legs tangled together and Chad currently leaving a soft wet tongue-trail from his ear down to his shoulder. He could also feel something not so soft poking into his lower back and Ryan let out a content sigh.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!"

Chad's whisper into his ear sent a shiver down Ryan's spine and he shuddered slightly, pressing nearer into Chad's already hard-again dick.

"Seems like someone's already up again down there."

"Oh well," Chad grinned, "what can I say? It's no wonder with me being new to all this, is it? Of course, if you need a bit more time to recover, old hand that you are…"

"Chad," Ryan turned around to face the jock, "I'm not… that is, well… I haven't…" he averted his eyes and stared at Chad's well-muscled chest instead. "I never said that."

"What?"

Ryan sighed. "You make it sound like I've slept with hundreds of guys."

"Well, perhaps not with a hundred but…" The look on Ryan's face made Chad break off immediately while the gears in his head turned around with speed. "But… no way, Ry. You said that, you said…"

"I said that I'd had sex before, and that's true. I fooled around with some guys, I also gave enough head to leave my knees permanently bruised but…"

"But?" Chad urged gently.

"This," Ryan pointed vaguely around the bed and the both of them, "what we just did… Chad, look. I've had real, complete sex like this exactly… once before. And I wasn't cast for the leading role then, if you get my drift."

Chad moved up to lean against the headboard and Ryan felt the loss of bodily contact instantly.

"So what you're saying is," Chad frowned briefly, "that you don't have as much experience in sex as I thought and that you've never been the batter before?"

"Yeah," Ryan sighed again.

"And now you think I'm… what? Mad? Upset? What, Ryan?" Chad wasn't sure what Ryan expected to hear.

"I don't know! Aren't you?"

"No!" Chad exclaimed and gently forced Ryan to look him in the eyes. "Why would I be mad?"

"Well, maybe not mad, but… I don't know. Disappointed?" Chad could see the insecure look in Ryan's eyes and that made him mad, mad at those guys who'd caused the sudden (and disturbing) self-consciousness. He pulled Ryan into a tight embrace and pressed a firm kiss to his lips.

"Ryan," Chad said determined when he'd pulled away again. "Never in a million years could I be disappointed in you! You blew my brains apart only an hour ago! That was the best sex of my life, which, I know, isn't saying much because it's the only sex I've had so far. But I want you to understand this, and I'm gonna go with Drama Club language here so that you'll truly get it…" Chad paused for the dramatic effect and leaned closer to Ryan again. "If the sex we've just had seriously was your very first rehearsal, then… dude, I can't wait to be there on opening night! You're gonna knock me dead!"

Chad noticed relieved the genuine smile creeping onto Ryan's face right before he kissed him again, more urgent and powerful than before.

"I love you, Chad!" Ryan gasped when he came up for air eventually.

"Love you, too, Ducky! Love you, too." Chad replied and, letting his hand slowly trail down Ryan's naked chest to his stomach and still lower down to where Ryan's renewed erection stood out, he added with a grin: "Looks like someone's up for another rehearsal! What do you think? Should I help you out? Run some lines with you?"

Ryan pulled the darker boy on top of him. "No lines, Chad. It'll be a silent play!"

"Silent?"

"Well, okay…" Ryan relented after a second, "Screaming's allowed!"

"Oh, good. What about standing ovations?"

The laughter that followed was quickly swallowed in a kiss.

* * *

The 'rehearsal' went on for another hour (standing ovations included) before Chad finally left Ryan's suite to go look for his mother. He knew he couldn't evade the inevitable talk about last night's actions and… somehow he was glad that he'd come out this way. He just hoped that his mom would truly be accepting his sexuality (and of course his relationship with Ryan). Well, Chad thought when he kissed Ryan goodbye for now, he'd find out soon enough.

Chad's departure left Ryan with time on his own and he used it for another short nap before he went for a long shower. Afterwards, freshly shaved and clad in only a towel, Ryan browsed through his wardrobe of great variety, looking for just the right outfit that on the one hand would fit his giddy, happy mood of now and on the other would underline the festive atmosphere of tonight's Christmas party.

"Oh, and of course…" Ryan muttered when a sudden thought struck his slow post-coital mind, "it should obviously not clash with whatever Shar's wearing tonight. Better make sure of her choice now."

Ryan thought briefly about texting her but dropped the idea quickly again.

Years of experience had taught him that situations like these (Shar being furious with him because they'd rehearsed their song for tonight not once like planned and he'd made himself pretty scarce the entire day) were best dealt with in person. Her venting at him and throwing a fit would hurt, that much was for sure, but… it would also be quick and over in a heartbeat.

Just like pulling off a band-aid or waxing his legs (not that he had much experience with the latter, it had been just a one-time gig for a theater role. He was an actor, yes… but he was not suicidal, thank you very much).

Or maybe he was, because after he'd quickly put on some underwear, pants and a shirt he left his suite to find Sharpay.

**To Be Concluded…**

**Feedback is much needed here, please.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Greatest Time Of The Year**

(formerly known as 'Christmas something')

**Part Seven**

_So, well… you still remember this story? This is it, finally. The Grand Finale with the big Christmas Party and an overall happy ending! It took me long enough to get there and I really hope you enjoy it._

_In case you don't remember most of the plot (and I can't hold that against you given the fact that I started writing this story years ago)… here's a short summary of the past events:_

_Chad and Ryan are in a relationship only a few of their friends know about. They spend the Christmas Holidays at the same place, both with their entire families. They have a good time with lots of secret make-out sessions until on Christmas Eve they have a fight because Ryan's ex Alex, who happens to be the son of Chad's mom's boyfriend, shows up and Chad accidentally comes out to his family. Alex leaves the scene as quickly as he's shown up, not being on the best of terms with his father Tom. With the help of Chad's baby brother Linus Ryan and Chad see reason and make up again, followed by sleeping together for the first time on Christmas Day. Sharpay wanted Ryan and Chad to sing together at the Christmas Party but then changed her mind and now it's like every other year, the Evans' twins are to perform together at the party although they didn't once rehearse their song._

**And now, before the story continues, there's only this for me to say:**

**First of all, sorry if there are any mistakes in here, but I couldn't wait with the posting until tomorrow. I've been writing for seven hours and I had to post the result now.  
**

**And then this: A million thanks to those of you who kept reviewing and everything. Thanks for your patience and your wonderful support, I could never have finished this without you.**

**

* * *

**

Sharpay sat down onto the plush couch in her suite, pulled off her stilettos and with a relieved sigh rubbed her bare feet together. Looking gorgeous all the time really was a hard job. And the things you had to put up with for it… like blisters on your heels, well...

Some things you simply had to endure.

'What I'm about to do now easily fits into the same category,' the blond girl thought to herself and dug her cell phone out of her purse as well as a scrambled piece of paper. She typed the number written down there into the phone, took off her golden ear clip, and waited for the call to connect.

"Hello?"

The male voice on the other end sounded slightly puzzled.

"We need to meet," Sharpay stated at once.

"Sharpay? How did you get my number?"

"How do you think?" the girl sighed with rolling eyes. Men could be so dense sometimes.

"Oh, right. So…," the man let out a sigh as well, "what do you want?"

"We will discuss this personally. Meet me at 'Ruby's' in half an hour." Sharpay's determined voice left no room for protests.

"Is this about Ryan?"

"Well, duh," Sharpay simply answered.

There was a slight pause at the other end before the voice finally gave in. "Okay, Sharpay. I'll try to be there as soon as I can. It may take longer than half an hour though, I'm already past…"

"You'll be there if you know what's good for you!" Sharpay stated coldly and, not waiting for a reply, cut the connection.

The blond girl stashed the cell back into her purse and, with a small sigh, slipped back into her high-heels. Then she stood up from the couch, smoothed down her skirt, and left the suite.

'Never a break for the 'Goddess of Scheming', not even on Christmas Day,' she thought while waiting for the elevator to arrive.

* * *

Ryan walked up to his twin's suite and, once more going through his thought-out apology for missing the rehearsal, knocked on the door. When there was no answer he knocked again and called: "Sharpay? Come on, let me in!"

Nothing.

Ryan tried the handle and was surprised to find the door locked.

'Where the hell is she?' he thought with a frown. Ryan had already checked out the most obvious places for her to be, leaving out the ones he knew Sharpay would never ever visit, like the indoor gym or the kid's club, and he'd asked every single one of the hotel's employees he'd met on his way if they'd seen her. But apparently nobody had seen Sharpay since lunch.

"Odd," Ryan sighed and turned around to visit his parents in their suite. Maybe their mother would know where Sharpay had gone off to.

And maybe she'd also have some advice as to how he would best avoid being flayed alive by Sharpay for missing out on practicing their performance for tonight's party.

"We could share a nice cup of hot chocolate while thinking of a way to guarantee my survival," Ryan murmured, a smile forming at the corners of his mouth at the prospect of having some alone-time with his mother. "And I long to tell her all about Chad… well, okay, maybe not all."

Some details of his' and Chad's previous activities he would certainly keep to himself, if only for the sake of not spoiling his mother's opinion of her 'Sweet Darling Boy'.

* * *

To Alyssa Danforth Christmas Day seemed to have passed in a blur and before she'd realized it, the evening had arrived and she found herself walking through the halls of the hotel with Tom and two of her kids to join everyone for the big special Christmas Party.

"Wow, mommy, look!"

Linus stopped tugging his mom forward into the dining room but stood still, gazing in awe around the festive Christmas decorations. Then he began hopping up and down again, all the while pulling on her arm to get her moving further into the room.

And Alyssa couldn't for once argue with her youngest son's excitement. The decorations were truly awesome and the Sport's Resort's management (or whoever was responsible for it) had really outdone itself.

Several highly decorated Christmas Trees adorned the walls along garlands, glitter and sparkles everywhere. The tables were covered in decked pine branches, equally sparkling but… the most wonderful item was the one tree placed to the right of the big stage at one end of the room.

It was laden with gold and red Christmas ornaments, real candles burned on nearly every branch and it was so big that the enormous gold star on top was brushing against the high ceiling. Alyssa (and everybody else) wondered how they'd gotten the tree inside at all, it didn't look like it would fit through any door.

"It's truly wonderful," she breathed and, ushering her children along, followed Tom towards their special table right in front of the stage. Vance and Derby Evans were already seated there, looking bright and sparkling, and they greeted each other warmly.

Then, with a brief nod towards the two empty chairs on either side of them, Tom asked:

"Where are the twins?"

"Well, Sharpay still isn't back from whatever ominous errand she had to run, she was very vague on the phone earlier," Derby frowned. "And Ducky… well, he's…"

"Off somewhere with Chad, of course." Alyssa finished for her, smiling and realizing for the first time today that she was truly okay with that.

"I'm just hoping they'll show up in time for the grand finale or otherwise Kitten will be disappointed." Derby stated softly. "She's used to perform the last song and, practice or not, of course she depends on Ryan to sing with her after all."

"Do you know what song they're gonna sing this year?" Tom wanted to know and that led to Derby and him exchanging tales about the twins' performances they'd witnessed over the years.

Alyssa listened to them for a while but then her mind wandered astray, thinking about Chad and Ryan and their… relationship instead.

To be completely honest, it still felt a bit strange to think of her eldest being in a relationship with the sparkling Evan's twin but… not because it was with the male half of the twins. No, her feelings had less to do with Chad being gay and more with the slightly wistful revelation that had sprung on her earlier today. The suddenly obvious fact that her son was truly no longer a child.

Without her realizing it, Chad had grown into a wonderful young man and, as much as she wished to deny it, his mother was no longer the one person in his life he needed the most.

Ryan was.

The spot that every mother secretly wished to occupy forever in her son's life, it had been taken over by Ryan Evans.

Alyssa had known as much the minute Chad had walked into her room this afternoon, a look of both worry and determination on his face, when he'd asked her if they could talk. And as much as she'd been prepared for the coming confession (_"Ugh, okay… mom. I guess you already know from my dumb act last night that I'm… I'm gay.")_ and as quickly and genuinely as she'd tried to assure Chad of her acceptance and love no matter what…

Alyssa hadn't managed to not be overwhelmed by the look of pure happiness and… yes, love that had shone from Chad's dark eyes when he'd told her all about Ryan and how things had progressed from a surprising new-found friendship starting last summer to something so endlessly more.

Chad was truly and madly in love with the blond boy and Alyssa could only hope that Ryan was feeling the same about her son.

A soft touch on her arm startled Alyssa from her reverie and she needed a second to focus on what Tom was saying: "I think I should get this party up and running now. Be right back, honey."

Tom rose from his seat to climb the stage and take hold of the microphone. The soft background music faded out to make way for a warm welcoming applause. Alyssa noticed Tom taking a deep breath before his calm and clear voice rang out to everyone:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, let me welcome you all to "The Season's Sports Resort's" annual Christmas Party. I'm proud to say that in the tenth year of my… well, let me go with the term 'regime' for now… our management has truly outdone itself in making this event memorable. Decorations, dinner, show… no costs or hard manual labor were spared whatsoever to ensure that tonight's Christmas Party will indeed become the true embodiment of this year's chosen motto: The Greatest Time Of The Year."

Strong applause forced Tom to stop going on further and he took the opportunity to send a loving smile towards his girlfriend and her family.

"And now," he continued a moment later, "all there is left for me to say is this: I wish you a wonderful evening full of songs, stand-up comedy and of course a delicious buffet that is therefore now pronounced opened. Please enjoy yourselves. Thank you."

Tom made his way back to the table under polite praising and sat down again. Alyssa leaned over to give him a quick kiss and a whispered "Wonderful speech, darling!" before her gaze went back to the stage where tonight's host (Supervising Manager Geoffrey Kensington) announced the first performance while people started to round up for their shot at the huge buffet.

And so the party began.

* * *

Ryan and Chad stumbled out of the storage room they'd been occupying for the last twenty minutes, still breathless from secret activity (no matter that they didn't have to hide any longer, secret make-out sessions still held a special fascination for both).

Ryan angled his purple trilby on his sweat-damp hair and Chad tucked the hem of his black shirt back into his pants before they made their way over to the dining room and the big Christmas shindig. Right before they entered Chad took hold of Ryan's left hand, squeezed it once with affection and shared a warm smile with his lover.

"Ready?" Ryan asked gently.

"Yeah," Chad smiled back, "let's do this."

Hand in hand they walked inside to join their families.

Linus was the first one to notice the approaching couple and he beamed happily at them from under his hat. It was the hat he'd gotten from Ryan, an old-fashioned black bowler hat that the blond boy hadn't worn too much lately. It had become too small for Ryan's head anyway, so he'd had no idea why he'd brought it along in the first place. From now on it would do good purpose taming Linus' cute mop of unruly curls.

"Ah, Ryan, Chad!" Tom exclaimed when the two boys had reached the table and prepared to sit down closely side by side. "There you are!"

"Hey everybody," Chad waved around and Ryan smiled silently. When the blond boy noticed the one chair still unoccupied he turned towards his mother.

"Sharpay hasn't shown up yet?"

"No, Ducky. But she called earlier and said not to worry," Derby patted her son's hand affectionately. "She will be here soon."

"And where have you been all afternoon, Chad?" Linus suddenly asked. "You didn't even open your presents, just the one I brought you."

"Ugh, sorry, grasshopper" Chad blushed. "Ryan and I, we were just, ugh… we had to…"

"Never mind, honey," Alyssa smiled knowingly. "I think we can all guess what the two of you have been up to."

"No, what have they been up to, mommy?" Linus insisted on knowing.

"I'll tell you in about ten years," Alyssa smiled lovingly at her youngest who looked as if he wanted to complain further. But then he simply settled on pouting adoringly.

An embarrassed smile crept onto Chad's face and he was thinking of something to say to make it up to his little brother when Vance Evans suddenly changed the topic with a carelessly thrown-in: "So, who wants to be the first at the buffet?"

At once Linus' face split into a smile and he elbowed Miles in the side. And soon enough the two kids dashed off to the large buffet, followed by the adults at a much slower pace.

* * *

Nearly an hour or, on Chad's part, three rounds at the buffet later, the party was in full swing. The current performance on stage, a couple of kids presenting their version of Charles Dickens's classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and the three Christmas Ghosts, held everybody's rapt attention. Everybody's but Chad's, that is.

Although he'd always liked the story well enough and the kids were actually doing a brilliant job, Chad was shifting restlessly in his seat, his mind entirely elsewhere. Ryan seemed to have noticed Chad's lack of attention because soon enough he leaned closer to his boyfriend and whispered:

"Bored?"

"What?" Chad whispered back. "Oh, no. It's just… ugh, I think I ate too many oysters."

"Is your stomach bothering you?" Ryan's voice was full of sudden concern. "Do you need to…" he broke off, not sure how best to phrase it, and gestured in the direction of the restrooms instead.

Chad's eyes briefly followed Ryan's motion before his gaze settled back on the blonde's sympathetic face. "No, man. It's not my stomach that's, ugh… that's crying for attention here."

Seeing Ryan's confused look Chad leaned closer still and whispered into his ear: "They say that oysters are good for one's libido and, well… since I've never had them before I didn't know just how true that statement was, you know?"

Chad took hold of Ryan's hand and quickly pulled it under the table and onto his lap.

"Oh," Ryan exclaimed but shut up quickly again when he received irritated looks from all around. He locked his gaze to the stage again, feigning attention to the play, but gave the telltale bulge in Chad's pants a gentle squeeze.

Chad had some trouble stifling a groan but he managed and shot Ryan a pleading look instead. He didn't exactly know what he was pleading for though. For Ryan to stop whatever he was doing or… not.

"Ry," Chad groaned quietly and shifted in his seat to hide his lower body more firmly under the table. Ryan's talented fingers were tracing enticing patterns over his straining erection, every now and then wandering lower to firmly cup Chad's balls and roll them in his palm. And all the while Ryan kept his eyes on the stage, seemingly completely enraptured. Only a sly smirk playing around the corners of his mouth belied his focus on the kids' performance.

Chad would have loved to lean over and kiss the smug look from his boyfriend's lips, if it weren't for the fact that he needed all his willpower to concentrate on not shooting his load in his pants. He was fighting hard to keep his whole body from bucking up into Ryan's skilled hand but he simply knew that, if Ryan kept doing… gah, ugh that… the fight would be lost in no time. He would embarrass himself by coming in his pants, under the eyes of everyone, his family, his mom!

Chad took a shuddering breath through clenched teeth and tried to calm down. With as much willpower as he could muster he placed his own hand above Ryan's that was still working wonders in Chad's lap. And after one gentle squeeze (which nearly ruined it all, so close was he) Chad pulled their joined hands away.

Finally Ryan turned his head towards him and, smug look still in place, murmured: "Too much?"

Chad simply nodded and closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath through his nose.

"Are you okay, honey?" Alyssa suddenly addressed her eldest with a slightly amused look on her face.

"Ugh, yeah, sure," Chad quickly assured and shifted in his seat. "I just need to…"

He motioned for the restrooms and, after making sure his pants would hide his erection, swiftly stood up and walked rather stiffly to the exit.

He hurried through the door labeled 'Gents' and once inside slumped against the tiled wall, breathing harshly as if he'd just finished a rather dire basketball practice.

Seconds later the door opened and Ryan sauntered in, the smug smile from before still in place.

"Hey," he smirked casually.

"You…" Chad choked and pulled Ryan close by the front lapels of his suit, "you are impossible!" He pressed the blond boy into the wall and crushed his mouth to the smirking pink lips.

When Ryan came up for air he was still smirking proudly. "I didn't do anything, did I? It was you who pulled my hand into your lap. I simply…"

"You simply drove me insane with need and you know it!" Chad growled low in his throat. "I nearly came in my pants back there!"

"Only nearly?" Ryan's hand wandered down Chad's chest towards his belt and lower. "I guess I have to see that I properly finish the job now, don't I?"

"You bet," Chad nodded, quickly propelling them both into the first stall and locking the door. Then he once again captured Ryan's mouth in a short demanding kiss before he pulled away again and, with gentle but determined hands on Ryan's shoulders, pushed the other boy down onto his knees.

"This what you want?" Ryan grinned and nuzzled Chad's groin through the straining trousers.

"God, Ry, get on with it already or I'll come from the mere sight of you like that, on your knees, all sexy and pouting and… gah!"

Ryan had opened the trembling boy's fly and pushed the clothes out of the way. "You'd better not come in your pants, Chad. I haven't had my fill of dessert yet and this," he gave the bobbing dick a quick lick of tongue, "as you know is my favorite treat!"

Chad could only moan in reply when Ryan's hot mouth descended onto his dick and the blond boy sucked it down to the base as if it were a giant red lollypop.

* * *

An embarrassingly short amount of time later Chad slumped down onto the closed toilet seat, gasping for much needed air, while Ryan sat back on his heels in front of him, licking his lips and grinning like the cat that had just gotten the canary.

"Wow," Chad let out eventually, still a bit short of breath.

"Thanks," Ryan beamed proudly and stood up to shake some feeling back into his cramped legs. Then he looked down to his crotch and pulled a face.

"Damn," he sighed.

Chad's eyes followed his gaze and when he noticed the damp spot on Ryan's pants he chuckled incredulously. Had Ryan really just come in his pants? Without even…

"What?" Ryan pouted defensively. "I can't help it, I like sucking you off."

"You really do, man. You didn't even touch yourself, did you?" Chad grinned cheekily.

"I didn't need to. Seeing you like that, feeling you, tasting you… that's all it takes." Ryan's voice sounded hoarse.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should," Ryan smiled shyly and hauled Chad up from the toilet seat and into a close embrace. He leaned his head against Chad's mop of curls and breathed in deeply. "No one, apart from you, has ever made me come untouched."

Chad pulled his face far enough away to look Ryan in the eyes. "Good. Because if I get a say in this then no one, apart from me, will ever get a chance to even try."

"That's fine by me," Ryan smiled and leaned in again to underline that promise with a soft and tender kiss.

* * *

Eventually the two boys emerged from the restrooms, clothes once again neatly tucked in place (and washed clean on Ryan's part). They were about to enter the dining hall again when suddenly Sharpay came rushing up to them out of nowhere.

She grabbed hold of her brother's hand and began pulling him away, not noticing (or caring) that Chad got dragged along since he was attached to Ryan's left.

"Shar, stop it! Let me go!" Ryan tried to pull free but his sister proved once again to be the stronger party. Only when the trio had reached a deserted part of the halls she let go of her twin's hand.

Ryan was still protesting: "What are you doing? Why are we…"

And Chad, who'd stumbled along helplessly, hissed: "Get your hands off my…"

"You…" the single syllable was accompanied by the typical Ice-Princess glare, "shut up!"

Chad's mouth clapped shut immediately.

"And you," Sharpay continued with a glare in Ryan's direction, "come with me! Now!"

"What? No!" Ryan crossed his arms defiantly. "Shar, the show…"

"The show will go down in mediocrity if you don't come with me this instant, Ry! We have to get you ready for our performance!"

"Shar, we can't sing the grand finale, not after we haven't rehearsed once!" Ryan tried to reason with his sister.

"Well, and who's fault is that, Ry? We would have rehearsed this morning if you hadn't been too busy moping around for your boyfriend!"

Ryan had the grace to look a bit guilty. But still…

"Hey, we could've just as well rehearsed this afternoon if you hadn't been too busy with… whatever!" Suddenly remembering the wild chase he'd done this afternoon, with no results whatsoever, Ryan added with a frown: "By the way, where've you been all day? I was looking for you for hours!"

"I was… oh, never mind!" Sharpay waved the question away like an annoying fly but Ryan noticed her flustering anyway. "We don't have time for this now. The grand finale is coming up any time now and…"

"And it will come and go without you anywhere near the stage, Shar, if you don't tell me right now what you've been up to!"

"Urrgh, Ryan!" Sharpay cried and stomped her stiletto heel into the ground.

"Shar!" Ryan mocked her with a single raised eyebrow.

Chad looked from one twin to the other, both trying to stare the other down, arms crossed over their chests in stubborn defiance, and he had to suppress a massive grin at the display of sibling similarity. He knew from experience that neither of them would back down any time soon, and things would get seriously ugly if he didn't intervene, so… Chad acted on pure instinct when he stepped in between the twins' visual line and faced Sharpay.

"What happens if you won't perform in the grand finale?"

Sharpay tore her eyes away from her brother's to glare at Chad. "Then Travis Hawthorne will be singing the last song, the motto song! **OUR** song! You know Travis Hawthorne, don't you? The one who's Benny the Bouncing Beaver at the stupid kid's club? And that's not all, he's gonna accompany the song on his howling harmonica!"

"Ouch!" Chad winced and turned to Ryan with a pleading look on his face. "Ryan?"

"Benny the Bouncing Beaver?" Ryan visibly shuddered. He couldn't let that happen now, could he? "Really?"

"Really!" Sharpay nodded and waited for her brother to give in like she knew he would eventually. "Please, Ry!"

"Oh well, okay!" Ryan sighed dramatically. "I guess we can't have the Holidays end with the best Christmas Song ever sung by a stupid stuffed animal and his howling harmonica!"

"Finally you see reason," Sharpay huffed and took her twins' hand again to pull him along. Ryan had just enough time to give his boyfriend one last fleeting kiss before he got dragged away by his sister.

Chad watched them go with a fond smile on his face, then shook his head and slowly made his way back to the dining room and the party.

And just like before, when he'd entered with Ryan in tow, Chad sat down at his family's table and blushed furiously at the sight of everyone sending him a more or less knowing smile.

His mom patted his cheek and… oh God, did she have to look so pointedly at his kiss-swollen mouth? Chad was sure that he would need a while to get used to her knowing about this.

Probably until forever.

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention please?"

The host's distinguished voice broke through the general murmur of the party and seconds later the noise died down. Everybody looked up to the stage, waiting for Mr. Kensington to go on.

"This intervention will not take long but I have to inform you of the fact that, unbeknown to us, midnight has sneaked up already. And this is traditionally the moment for me to announce the last performance of tonight's very special show." The manager took a quick breath and continued.

That is, he was about to continue his speech and had already opened his mouth to do so. But before any words could come forth there was suddenly a short, skinny and very wallflower-like woman rushing up to him from behind the stage. She whispered something into the stunned man's ear, all the while gesturing rather apologetically, and vanished quickly again.

Mr. Kensington threw a look after her and then, obviously noticing something or someone at the stage's very left in the darkness, he turned towards the audience again, a pleased and somehow relieved smile spreading over his face.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," his voice rang out to the waiting party guests once again, "the moment you've all been waiting for has arrived. And I am more than delighted to present to you the last act of this evening. This year's motto song will be brought to you by two of the Resort's most regular and, may I add, most popular guests. Please welcome the wonderfully talented young artists, Mr. And Miss Ryan and Sharpay Evans with 'The Greatest Time Of The Year'."

As soon as the Manager had finished his speech an up-tempo music started playing from the background. He stepped aside, clapping his hands enthusiastically, and made way for the twins' elegant glide onto the stage, hand in hand and a vision in sparkly purple and black.

"Wow," Chad's admiration colored his voice but since everybody around him seemed to be equally enraptured he didn't care. Ryan (and Sharpay as well) looked truly stunning, all sashaying hips and dancing feet.

Ryan led his sister to the middle of the stage in what Chad assumed to be some sort of professional dance moves. There, with an elegant bow and a proud and happy smile, he released Sharpay's hand and stepped back to give her some room. And then Sharpay began to sing:

_**There's a special kind of feeling in the air  
It only happens at this time of year  
When everyone is filled with love and cheer  
'Cause that's what matters**_

Ryan had come dancing closer and as soon as he'd reached his sister he took over:

_**Pretty paper boxes tied with bows  
Walking in the sun or in the snow  
We can feel the excitement growing, growing**_

And then both twins sang the chorus together:

_**It's the greatest time of year, and it's here  
Help me celebrate it  
With everybody here, friends so dear  
Let me simply state it  
Joy to the world and everyone  
Lift up your hearts and feel the love  
It's our favorite way, to spend the holiday  
Yeah**_

The moves they managed to come up with while singing showed everyone that there were real professionals at work here. No doubt about that.

When the next verse began it was Ryan's turn again and to everyone's astonishment Sharpay took a few steps backwards to let her brother have all the spotlight for once.

_**We can get all cozy by the fire  
Turn the music up a little higher  
I don't think that I could ever tire  
Of being together**_

Singing those words the blond boy's gaze locked with his boyfriend's and Chad couldn't help but feel all warm and glowy inside. No, he as well didn't think that he could ever tire of being together with this magnificent boy who was simply made for the stage.

Sharpay stepped into the spotlight and took over again:

**_Decorate the tree, hang mistletoe  
And stand by me  
It's a picture perfect moment captured  
Memories that we'll have after_**

**_It's the greatest time of year, and it's here  
Help me celebrate it  
With everybody here, friends so dear  
Let me simply state it  
Joy to the world  
Joy to the world  
Joy to the world_**

The break that followed was filled by Ryan taking hold of Sharpay's smaller form, twirling her around in a whirl of colors and pure joy. Soon enough the audience jumped up and people began to dance with each other, caught in the sheer joy and Holiday Spirit these two were radiating in spades.

When the time for the chorus came once again it suddenly sounded as if every single person in the room was singing with Ryan and Sharpay.

**_It's the greatest time of year, and it's here  
Help me celebrate it  
With everybody here, friends so dear  
Let me simply state it  
Joy to the world and everyone  
Lift up your hearts and feel the love  
It's our favorite way, to spend the holiday_**

**_It's the greatest time…_**

**_

* * *

_**

The party hadn't died down for many hours after the brilliant performance of Ryan and Sharpay and especially the table occupied by the Evans', the Danforth's and Tom was happily celebrating well into the morning.

Chad's brothers were probably the only kids still about and Miles was happily occupied with playing something on his portable Playstation. The youngest Danforth had exhausted himself earlier by talking nonstop and no matter how hard he'd fought against it, eventually sleep had won the fight and he'd nodded off.

So now cute little Linus lay snuggled up on Tom's lap with his small arms tugged under the man's armpits. Alyssa had wanted to lift the small bundle off her boyfriend but every time she'd tried Linus had stirred slightly and had buried his mop of curls even more deeply under Tom's chin.

The couple's eyes had met over Linus' head, shining full of love, and from time to time they'd traded gentle smiles and small whispered words, careful not to disturb the small boy's sleep.

Ryan had watched Tom with the sleeping child on his lap for a few minutes now and he couldn't help but notice: "They're cute together."

"They truly are," a voice from behind softly agreed all of a sudden.

Recognizing the voice at once Ryan's head whipped around, dread clearly filling his eyes, and wordlessly stared at the tall form of his ex-boyfriend.

Tom's son Alex looked exactly like last night, the very picture of handsome in faded jeans and a leather jacket, dark hair tousled and sun-dried. The only difference was the look on his face. Yesterday there'd been joyfully sparkling green eyes surrounded by a sly grin and now… he looked rather apprehensive and… embarrassed?

"Alex!" Tom was the first to greet his son in a whispered voice. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd gone back to Denver."

"Yeah, well… I was on my way back but then…" the young man took a deep breath and went on: "See, I wanted to apologize for the scene I made yesterday. And for my completely stupid behavior, especially to you two."

He'd walked up to Chad and Ryan and after a slight pause addressed them. "I already knew that we were through, Ryan and… it was a stupid attempt at… I don't know. You're with Chad now and… I understand and I… well, all I ever wanted for you is the best and since that's obviously Chad, it's okay. I'm happy for you, Ry. And I'd really like for us to be okay again, maybe even friends like… before?"

"Ugh, thanks, I guess. And, well… about being friends… we'll see, okay?" Ryan managed to sound not too surprised though he probably failed miserably. But Alex apologizing, and genuinely so… that was something he'd never thought he'd see. But it felt good.

Ryan felt like a dull weight had suddenly been pulled from his stomach and a small smile found it's way onto his face. He'd hated to have to be angry with Alex for such a long time. They'd known each other for nearly ten years and had been good friends before the whole relationship-fiasco had happened. And deep down Ryan had secretly wished to somehow turn back time, he'd wished none of it had ever happened and for them to still be friends.

Maybe now they would get a chance to start over? But only if Chad would feel alright with it of course. Ryan's first and foremost concern nowadays was Chad. And if he couldn't accept Alex then…

"Just to make it clear, dude," Chad stood up and faced Alex. "By friends you mean… just friends, right? Not friends with benefits or such shit?"

"Absolutely," Alex concurred. "Just friends, like we were before… well, you know." He took a deep breath and stuck out his hand. "And Chad, I know that you probably don't like me very much right now, and that's okay, I wouldn't like me if I were you. But, I'm actually not that bad and I'm hoping for a chance to show you."

Chad silently eyed Alex for a second and then accepted the offered hand with a grin. If Ryan had been friends with him for years then the guy couldn't be all bad, could he?

Alex let out a relieved laugh and clapped Chad's shoulder once. His eyes suddenly sparkling green again he said:

"Thanks, man. You'll see, we'll get along just fine. Otherwise it'd make this whole 'becoming a family' thing kind of weird, wouldn't it?"

"Becoming a … huh? What?" Chad sputtered.

"You know, with Tom and your mom…" Alex broke off and paled visibly. "Oh God, oh damn," he swore, "you didn't know yet, did you?"

"Know what?" Chad frowned and at the same time he noticed Tom at the other side of the table had gone equally pale and stunned. And why was Sharpay of all people suddenly shaking her head in disappointment and glaring daggers at Alex? Chad plopped down onto his seat again. What the hell was going on?

Alex ignored the patented Ice-Princess-Stare in favor of rushing up to where his father sat. Tom was busy putting the awakening Linus into his mommy's arms before he stood up to face Alex.

"Dad, I'm sorry!" Alex looked genuinely worried. "I thought you'd already asked her, I thought they'd already know!"

"No," Tom pulled Alex away from the table, "they didn't know. But what I'd like to know is how **you** know?"

"Well, Sharpay told me this afternoon," Alex confessed. "It's what convinced me to come back to apologize to everyone right away. I'd planned on letting you all cool down a bit before I came back but… well, when she told me about your plans I knew that I wanted to be there. I wanted to have the chance to celebrate with you. Tell you how happy I am for you."

"Thanks, son," Tom smiled but then his face twisted into a frown. "Sharpay told you?" He turned towards the blond girl, "And how…?"

"Well, you shouldn't leave precious jewelry lying around so openly, Tom!" Sharpay shrugged indifferently. But then her eyes softened. "Last night, when I was babysitting the boys I had to search your rooms for Linus' security blanket. He wouldn't go to sleep without it, so I had to snoop around. I came across a certain jewelry box and… well, I just thought that if you're about to, you know, your own son should know about it, right? So I made him come back."

Chad felt like he was watching a tennis match, but one where everybody spoke in Chinese or something. What the hell were they talking about? His eyes flew from Tom to Sharpay and quickly back to Tom again. Tom who eventually seemed to have noticed that all eyes were set on him.

"Ugh," he stuttered while fighting a blush.

"Honey," Alyssa finally took charge. "Would you care to explain what all this fuss is about?"

"Sure, ugh… alright," Tom nodded and took a deep and steadying breath. Chad thought that he looked rather nervous. Fumbling around in the pocket of his suit Tom slowly walked up to Alyssa again and suddenly bent down to one knee. Chad's breath hitched in his throat and he thought he'd heard Ryan inhale quickly, too.

"My dear Alyssa," Tom's voice rang out loud and clear, all nervousness suddenly gone. "From the day of my birth nearly forty-five years ago I've been blessed with many fortunes. I grew up with parents who tried successfully to make up for the lack of money with unconditional love and support. I was enabled a solid education that gave me the opportunity to turn my hobby into a very successful business and I've never lacked money or anything else material. As you also know I was able to marry my high-school love and we were blessed with a son who has made me proud more times than I let him know."

Here Tom threw a quick smile at Alex who, just like everybody else at the table, had listened raptly. Tom cleared his throat and continued: "Alyssa, you know that my life hasn't always been roses and sunshine though. My wife was taken from me far too early and in my grief I shut out my son more than I realized until I'd alienated him from me completely. We fought constantly and I had given up hope of ever reconciling with him again until…"

Tom took hold of the stunned Alyssa's hand and squeezed it gently. "Until I met you, Alyssa. You pulled me back to life with your exuberance and joy. You made me see hope again where I'd given up. You showed me the meaning of 'a second chance' in more ways than one because you gave me back my son and you gave me back my life. Before I met you I was convinced that you could only love once but you opened my eyes to the wrongness of that. I love you, Alyssa. You're my best friend and I know that while I was blessed with so many things in my life the best of it all is you. Knowing you, loving you, that's the greatest fortune ever happened to me. And I don't want to live another second without you by my side. Alyssa Danforth, my blessing and my dearest darling friend, would you please marry me?"

You could have heard a needle drop in the stunned silence that followed Tom's declaration.

Chad watched his mom wipe away a tear with trembling fingers, only to make way for new ones flowing freely from her brown eyes and for two horribly long seconds Chad feared that maybe his mom was sad or upset.

But then Alyssa came out of her stupor and threw her arms around Tom. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, crying, gulping for breath and laughing at the same time, until finally the tears cries turned into one word over and over again:

"Yes! God, yes! Yes, yes, yes…"

And then she kissed the grinning Tom like Chad had never seen her kiss him before.

Linus, who'd barely managed to scramble off his mommy's lap before he was crushed between the kissing couple, grinned out from under the brim of his hat and shouted:

"This is the most bestest Christmas ever!"

The entire room started to laugh and then the cheers for the happy couple started to flow from all sides. Champagne was brought in quickly and soon enough everyone was lifting a flute full of sparkling drink to a toast Alex, Vance and Derby performed together.

And when Chad slumped back in his seat a short while later, exhausted from joy and equally happy and overwhelmed at the same time, he was grinning like a complete idiot but couldn't care less. He was happy.

And then there were suddenly arms wrapped around his body from behind. Strong and warm arms that held him and made his happiness double ten times when the person those arms belonged to leaned down to softly whisper into Chad's ear:

_**It's the greatest time of year, and it's here**_

_**Help me celebrate it**_

_**With everybody here, friends so dear**_

_**Let me simply state it**_

_**Joy to the world and everyone**_

_**Lift up your hearts and feel the love**_

_**It's our favorite way, to spend the holiday**_

Ryan's singing slowly faded away and then soft warm lips descended in a loving kiss onto Chad's mouth.

"Linus is right, this is the best Christmas ever!" Chad murmured contently. He closed his eyes and pulled Ryan down for another kiss, one that lasted until Linus sneaked up on them and managed to dump a prickling mistletoe onto their joined faces.

* * *

**THE END**

**Please, please tell me what you thought of this happy ending. I need feedback.  
**


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